Billionaire's Bride

by Eden Proctor

  She nodded quickly, and when Nate let out a breath, looked relieved, she smiled.

  Nate did as well, then moved forward to kiss her. This kiss was quick but no less intense, but Nate pulled back, smiled down at her.

  “So sue me for being nervous.”

  “Nathaniel? Nervous?”

  He smiled, kissed her again. “It happens,” he said.

  Before she could respond he pushed her dress off entirely and popped open the strapless bra she wore. The garment fell down to the floor, forgotten just as her dress was.

  If Mindy had imagined this before, being half naked at Nate’s house would’ve left her mortified. But now, much to her surprise, she was amused.

  “You were afraid I was going to change my mind?” she asked.

  “Yep,” he said. Then he discarded his suit jacket and pulled his shirt out of his waistband.

  The humor of the moment was gone, and Mindy watched him, mesmerized, as he slowly undressed.

  When he wore nothing but his underwear, Mindy looked at him, took in the strong lines and planes of his muscled body. She reached out, brushed her fingers against his collarbone, down his pec, the light dusting of hair there so perfectly rough against her palm.

  Her nipples, which had puckered under the cool air in the living room pulled even tighter, and she stepped closer to him, sighing at the perfect abrasion of her tender breasts against his chest.

  She did it again, smiled a little bit when she heard his sigh.

  Mindy didn’t know where this boldness had come from, but she gave in to it. Stood on tiptoe to brush her lips against Nate’s neck, following the trail she had paved with her fingers. She moved down his collarbone, his skin warm and smooth against her lips.

  Then she trailed down his pec, circled her tongue around his flat nipple. He sighed again, and Mindy chuckled, enjoying the power of the moment. She so seldom felt like this. Beautiful, desired. And she didn’t think it would last, knew that it couldn’t.

  But in this moment, it was perfect.

  She switched sides to give Nate’s other nipple the same treatment, and moved her hands, which she had rested against his stomach, down. She gently curved her fingers around his hardness, stroking his length through the thin fabric of his underwear.

  Mindy squeezed her thighs, her core tingling as she thought of what it would be like to have this powerful man inside her. When he reached up to squeeze her breasts, she sighed again, her body throbbing with the intensity of the desire that rushed through her.

  She only faintly realized that Nate had pulled her panties down, but when they hit her ankles, she stepped out of them, somehow managing to move gracefully even though her mind was a riot of desire and her head swam with all the emotions that ran through her.

  Nate broke her hold, and then, eyes locked on hers, slowly peeled the underwear down his body. She watched avidly, fascinated as Nate revealed his shaft, which looked as thick as it had felt in her hands, the skin pulled tight, his crown glossy with precum.

  Without a word, Nate led her out of the tangle of their discarded clothes and pushed her down onto the couch. He stared at her for a moment, then moved forward, kissed the inside of her knee, placed another kiss on her thigh. He was breathing hard now, his massive chest rising and falling with his efforted breath.

  Something she understood.

  She was near crazy with need for him. And when he settled himself between her thighs, his position awkward because of the couch, but neither of them seeming to care, she sighed her relief, a sigh that turned into a moan when his cock brushed her wetness.

  Nate’s bare skin against hers was the most amazing thing she’d ever felt, and when she looked into his eyes, she saw that they held the same wonder.

  “Can I take you like this? I don’t want anything between us,” he said. His voice was tight, thick with desire, and Mindy understood that feeling.

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  Before she had completely gotten the word out he pushed inside her, filling her slowly, inch by inch until he was completely inside her. They both cried out, and she reached for his shoulders, desperate to hold onto something, needing to anchor herself.

  Nate was that anchor.

  His thick shaft spearing her, his strong shoulders under her palms, they were the thing she focused on, that and the way he thrust inside her hard, fast, but not nearly enough.

  There could never be enough of him.

  Not ever.

  Her pussy clinched at that thought, and at the same time Nate reached between their bodies, squeezed her clit between his fingers.

  The climax went through her like a tornado and left nothing in its wake.

  She could do nothing, not think, not breathe, do nothing but let it rip through her. When some of the intensity passed, she could again feel Nate inside her, keep her eyes on him as his cock jerked and he spilled his seed inside her.

  * * *

  When Nate awoke, it took him a moment to remember where he was, but when he did he reached for Mindy, found the corner of the couch that he had trapped her in empty.

  It said something that he had fallen into such a deep sleep that he hadn’t awakened when she had moved.

  It said something else that he had slept at all.

  That wasn’t how he did things, and certainly never on a couch in his living room. Most women didn’t even get invited to his place.

  But Mindy wasn’t most women, something she proved over and over again.

  “You’re not gonna leave without saying good-bye, are you?” he said.

  He looked toward the center of the room where he saw Mindy frozen, knees bent as she had been reaching to pick up her dress.

  It was adorable, her beautiful, curvy body and the guilty expression on her face.

  “I… Yes,” she said.

  Nate sat up, laughed. He was in a very good mood, but he couldn’t let that stand.

  He rose from the couch and went over to stand in front of her. Then, before she could speak, he swooped her into his arms and lifted her, holding her to his chest.

  “Nate—what!”

  “We had an agreement that you’re going to stay, so I’m just making sure you hold up your end,” Nate said.

  Mindy had wiggled in his arms but then went still, looked at him sternly.

  “Nathaniel! Put me down this instant. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

  Nate couldn’t help himself, he leaned forward and kissed Mindy’s nose, then dropped one on her lips. “It’s really sexy when you call me Nathaniel. And as for hurting myself…”

  He set off in a dead sprint, not stopping until he had deposited her in his bed. He lay atop her, one of his arms on either side of her body as he stared down into her eyes.

  She laughed, looking carefree, more so than he had ever seen her.

  “You are…”

  “Ridiculously handsome. The best lover you’ve ever had.” Your husband. He didn’t say that last one, knew that it would freak Mindy out.

  But it was true.

  Something was happening with them, and though Nate hadn’t wanted it or planned it, he felt compelled to acknowledge it.

  Even more, he needed her to. Would do what it took to make her. Kissing her and being with her had been a revelation, and he could only hope she felt the same. Hope that she would admit it.

  “I’m not answering either of those questions,” she said.

  But she smiled bright, looked at him with open eyes.

  It would be a struggle. But he knew Mindy would be worth the fight.

  Chapter 14

  Mindy and Nate had taken a week off after the wedding.

  That week hadn’t gone anything like Mindy had expected.

  When Nate had suggested it, certain that Gordon would find it odd if they turned up at work the Monday after the wedding, Mindy had anticipated using the time to clean out her closet, get her car detailed, and tackle her long-neglected garden.

  What she hadn’t anticipated wa
s spending practically every moment in Nate’s arms.

  She knew which she preferred, but the following Monday when she returned to work, a sense of unreality hit her.

  It almost felt like the previous week hadn’t happened.

  She had finally convinced Nate to let her go home on Sunday, and by Monday morning, she had so quickly fallen back into her regular routine that it was easy to forget all that had happened in the previous week.

  She got a couple of stares, but even the internal gossip about the marriage had worn off. Gordon and Nate had made an announcement prior to the wedding, and by now it was old news.

  So it was easy for Mindy to get back to business as usual, so easy that she found herself headed to Nate’s office as she would have on any other day. She walked in and saw him standing there gorgeous as always, but this time she had such intimate knowledge of him, and he her.

  It was enough to make her blush and send a flood of desire between her legs.

  She ignored both and strode toward him purposefully, intent on pushing down those feelings.

  “Nate, I—”

  He shook his head and walked toward her.

  Without pause he wrapped his arms around her, held her with a familiarity that would have seemed impossible weeks ago but now felt so right.

  And when he pressed his mouth against hers, she sighed, fell into the kiss that she craved. He kissed her until she was breathless and then broke away.

  “You were saying?” he said.

  She frowned at him, and he rewarded her with a laugh.

  “What? That’s how you have to greet me now,” he said.

  “Nathaniel, I don’t think that’s—”

  He kissed her again, and when he broke away he kept his body pressed against hers so that she could feel his growing hardness.

  “You can’t be mad at me. I told you what it does to me when you call me Nathaniel,” he said.

  She smiled at him, reveling in the familiarity and warmth of his hand on her, his body close to hers.

  “Am I interrupting?”

  She almost groaned when she heard Gordon’s voice, but Nate simply smiled.

  “Not at all, Grandfather,” he said.

  He made no move to step away, and despite her growing embarrassment, Mindy didn’t want to either. Instead, she shifted so she was standing next to Nate, but he kept his hand on her waist.

  “Good afternoon, Gordon,” Mindy said.

  “I won’t keep you. I know you’re busy,” he said, eyes twinkling.

  Mindy wanted to sink through the floor, and Nate shook his head.

  “Just came to make sure we’re on for dinner tonight?” Nate said.

  “Yes,” Gordon said. “You’ll be there won’t you, Mindy?”

  Mindy shook her head. “No. No,” she said.

  She knew how much Nate and his grandfather valued their time together, and she wouldn’t intrude on that.

  “Nonsense. You’re family now.” Gordon nodded, telling her without words that he expected her in attendance, and Mindy knew she would be.

  “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” Nate said.

  He kept his expression even, unreadable, and Mindy couldn’t tell if he wanted her there or not. But that wasn’t really a problem. The problem was she wanted to be there, but that only made her situation worse. Because she wasn’t family, never would be, and the deeper she allowed herself to get, the worse it would hurt when it was over.

  She looked at Nate, studied his expression, and then, as she had so often, she went with her heart.

  “I’ll be there.”

  * * *

  A week later, Nate sat in his office busily working. He’d told Mindy he would be late, and he worked hard to finish.

  For the first time, he had something to go home to. Something worth rushing home for.

  It still blew his mind, but there was no denying it. Somewhere along the way, he had fallen in love with Mindy, and he was as happy as he could remember being.

  He had liked Mindy before, respected her, but as he spent more time with her, he got to parts of her he hadn’t seen before, and as he knew more of her, got to see the intelligent, passionate woman that lived in her, he knew that he had been so fortunate. He hadn’t anticipated this, but Mindy brought a joy to his life that he had never dreamed of.

  Maybe the old man had been onto something.

  Nate laughed, knowing he would never share that particular thought with his grandfather, if only out of principle.

  “Something amusing, darling?”

  Nate looked up, glared when his eyes confirmed what he had heard.

  Dahlia stood in his doorway wearing a black trench coat that stopped at her knee. Nate knew her well enough to know that there was nothing under it.

  He also didn’t care.

  “How the fuck did you get in here?”

  She looked at him, gave him a calculating smile. “I have my ways, Nathaniel,” she said.

  Hearing his name on her lips was abrasive, only made him angrier when he compared it to how it felt to hear Mindy say it.

  “Dahlia, get out of here,” he said.

  “You don’t want to hear what I have to say?” she said.

  “No,” he said.

  He watched her with disinterest as she pulled open the trench coat and let it fall to the ground dramatically, revealing her naked body. Just as Nate had expected.

  He was completely indifferent and felt nothing but sheer annoyance when she made a slow circle, giving him a chance to check out the goods, he suspected.

  “Seems like you’re settling into marriage, but I know you, Nate. It’s a sham, and you’re going to get bored with your little fake wife. But I’m here,” she said.

  Nate was so angry he could hardly see straight, but he didn’t say anything to Dahlia. Instead he picked up the phone.

  “Security. I have an intruder in my office.”

  Then, without looking at her again he put down the phone and picked up his pen. He had a lot to do before he could get home to Mindy, and he wouldn’t allow Dahlia to keep him away from the only woman he wanted.

  Chapter 15

  Mindy settled deep under the covers, wishing she could fall into the cloud of the bedding and never emerge.

  She had every reason to hide.

  Her own stupidity burned through her. She’d warned herself that she should be wary, that she needed to keep her distance from Nate. She’d done just the opposite.

  With each quiet evening at home, each dinner with his grandfather, she’d allowed herself to get more comfortable, had nurtured that stubborn ray of hope that wouldn’t die. She’d never allowed herself to think he would be attracted to her, that he’d return even a hint of the deep desire she felt for him.

  And yet, she’d thought there was something growing between them, that maybe the mutual respect she knew they shared could grow into something else. Had allowed herself to think that maybe this marriage could become something real.

  She’d been blind, stupid, but no more.

  After what she’d seen today, that stubborn seed of hope had finally died.

  Even now, hours later, Mindy could easily imagine Nate’s hands on Dahlia’s waist, see the intensity of his stare as he’d looked at her.

  Intensity she’d never experience herself.

  She liked the easy rapport between them, had believed that maybe it would grow into more, but it was nothing compared to what she wanted.

  She was used to people recognizing her intellect, respecting her ideas. And she didn’t want to change that. Yet she couldn’t help but wish that maybe, just once, someone would look at her differently. Like she was desirable.

  Mindy turned and pulled the covers over her head. She was lying to herself again.

  She didn’t want someone to look at her like that. She wanted Nate to look at her like that.

  And after tonight, she knew he never would.

  That knowledge burned, and as silly as it was, sh
e couldn’t swallow the bite of betrayal. She remembered the sound of Nate’s voice as he’d made his vows. She’d gone in with her eyes open, knew that the words weren’t sincere. But it hurt nonetheless. Logically, she knew that he wouldn’t be celibate. She hadn’t given the details much thought, but the idea that Nate would go without sex for the duration of their marriage was laughable on its face.

  But she wasn’t laughing.

  It was stupid, but she’d held onto the silent hope that he wouldn’t pursue a relationship, especially not so soon after they’d gotten married.

  Another hope dashed.

  She wanted to yell into the pillow, but she pushed that feeling aside. She refused to give in to that, refused to let the emotion that threatened have free rein.

  She did indulge her anger, though. The longer she lay there, the angrier she got. If nothing else, he should have respected her enough not to be so flagrant about his…activities.

  He was so fucking thoughtless. He hadn’t even considered how it would look if someone else had seen him, how it might hurt her to have people looking at her, the poor betrayed wife.

  And there she’d been, defending him, allowing herself to believe that those moments had meant something. Allowing herself to believe that even if he didn’t want or really care for her that he at least respected her.

  Respect.

  He didn’t know the first thing about it.

  Look at what he was doing, lying to his grandfather, using her to do so.

  She ignored the voice in her head that whispered this had been her idea. So what if it had? He should have known better, and even if he hadn’t, he should have at least considered her.

  The anger that went through her was so intense that she threw the covers off. She’d tell Nate exactly what she thought of him and what he did. And she’d make it quite clear that he would respect her. If he had a problem with that, let Dahlia be his wife.

  She heard the front door creak open. Nate was back and right on time. She looked at the clock, for the first time taking stock of the late hour. He probably thought she was sleeping and had stayed away to avoid seeing her.