Falling for the Billionaire's Daughter (Sutton Billionaires Book 6)

by Lori Ryan

  When he ran his tongue up her slit and felt the smooth slick folds of her on his tongue, he damned near lost control.

  He worked her, alternating between licks and sucking and using his hands. He couldn’t help but smile when she gripped the sheets, threw her head back and cried out her pleasure when she came.

  He had his pants off and a condom on faster than he would have thought possible. The only part of his brain that still functioned was like a caveman urging him to bury himself in her again and again.

  So he did, slipping into the warmth of her folds as she wrapped her arms and legs around him and pulled him to her, her hips coming up to meet his thrusts.

  Pleasure zipped along his spine as he moved in her and his head was completely taken over by the need to lose himself in the sensations. It was a mindless pursuit of that feeling of ecstasy that would come when he found his release.

  But not before she came again. He apparently had some small semblance of sanity left because he reached between them, stimulating her clitoris with his thumb as he pumped in and out of her. She panted beneath him, her nails raking his back, driving him on.

  And then he felt her contract, her muscles tightening around him and the sound of his name on her lips in that moment was heaven.

  Then he came, not able to hold off any longer as he hit that weightlessness where nothing but the feeling of his orgasm racing through him existed. Nothing but him and Joy and the feel of her as he came deep inside her.

  Chapter 26

  Joy woke before Kaeden and slipped carefully from the bed, not wanting to deal with any conversation. She’d been glad when he had pulled her to him and gone right to sleep the night before. She’d almost left then, but she’d been too tired to fight the pull of his warm, strong arms around her.

  She needed to leave this place. It had been stupid to stay this long. But she needed to get out of here and relocate to a new spot. Rather than drive to a neighboring town to check her mother’s emails, she would check using the computer at the lodge. While she was on there, she’d use one of her social media accounts or sign into her old email account. Something that might make her pop up on Turner’s radar. It would be a good time to leave him a breadcrumb because she’d be getting in her car right afterward before anyone else woke.

  She was leaving like she should have done a week ago. Leaving before she got any more attached to this man she had no business being with. Before she let herself hope for something more in her life than being the decoy her mother so desperately needed.

  Kaeden O’Shea had filled her mind since the moment she saw him. And it was only getting worse. Last night should have been about nothing more than sex, about seeking the relief of a really good orgasm, the kind that ran all the way to your toes with its pleasure.

  But it wasn’t. When he looked at her, she felt so much more than just the wild, heart pounding attraction that his dark eyes and taut muscles brought out in her. She felt too much. Like she wanted to wrap herself up in his arms and tell him everything. Tell him all the secrets she’d been holding in. All the burdens she’d been carrying for too damned long with no one to talk to about them.

  Well, no more. She was leaving.

  She had to fight off a sob as she thought about leaving this place. She loved Carl and Evelyn. She hated to think of abandoning them, especially without even leaving them anything more than a bullshit story about a family emergency somewhere that she had to get to in a hurry.

  And she couldn’t begin to face the way she was feeling over leaving Kaeden. It was too much. And it shouldn’t be. She’d only known the man for a little over a week. She shouldn’t want so much more with him.

  She shoved down her emotions and used her key to let herself in the main building and into the small office next to the front lobby of the lodge. The computer took a few minutes to boot up and she waited impatiently as the internet started. Then she quickly pulled up the site for a women’s clothing store.

  She picked out a pair of pants and a shirt in her mother’s size and added them to a cart.

  She opened another browser and looked up an assisted living center in a city in California and had them sent there under her mother’s name. She used one of the credit card numbers she had memorized so that her credit card would pop. Between them tracing the card’s use to here and then needing to check to see if her mom was in that facility, that would give Turner two places to look that neither she or her mom would be in by the time he found them.

  She closed the browser then hesitated. She wanted to check for any new emails from her mom. Even if Turner tracked her here, it wasn’t like he’d have a computer specialist check the computer or anything. And she could clear the cache and scrub the browser’s history.

  She opened the browser again and checked her emails. There were three new ones from her mom.

  She glanced out at the window. It was still dark out. She read them greedily, knowing she needed to toss her things in a bag and go as soon as she was finished. She would drive a short way and when things opened up, she’d leave her car somewhere and hitch a ride for a bit until she could buy a new car. She had cash put aside for that.

  She read through her mother’s account of the new exercise class run by an instructor who was very nice but looked like she had a lot of plastic surgery done to her face. And, as her mother put it, “her ponytail is clearly clipped on fake hair.”

  Joy closed that email and moved to the next. This one told her all about the new desserts they’d added to the menu at the center. Joy had to admit, the triple chocolate dream cake did make her mouth water. She grinned. Her mom made sure she emailed often even if it was only to talk about food or something she painted in class.

  Joy eyed the window as she opened the last email. She was pushing it too close. She needed to go. Evelyn would awake at first light to start making breakfast for the guests.

  She smiled when she opened the third email, seeing her mother’s bright face smiling at her from beside a large bouquet of flowers.

  The smile didn’t last, though, when she saw the words under the image. The flowers had been a gift. Her mother didn’t say who they were from. It was silly for Joy to worry. They could be from someone else in the center. Lord knew her mom had friends. And maybe she was dating again.

  Joy frowned. She had a hard time believing her mom might let any man get close after what Turner had put her through.

  But maybe.

  She cleared the browser’s history and closed the browser before shutting down the computer. She needed to go.

  She locked the door to the lodge, not letting herself cry as she left the building for the last time.

  As she rushed back down the path to her cabin she dialed the number for her mother’s assisted living home. She didn’t keep it programmed in her phone. She wouldn’t take a chance that if Turner ever caught up to her, he could track her mother that way. But she had it memorized.

  Thankfully New Jersey was two hours ahead of Colorado.

  She could hear the surprise in the woman’s voice on the other end of the line when she asked for her mother’s room. Her mother didn’t get phone calls. Or visitors other than her brother who only risked going to see her on very rare occasions.

  Hearing her mother’s voice on the other end of the line made Joy feel like her heart would crumble. She wanted to be with her mom again. Wanted to be able to wrap her arms around her and see her bright smile. Hear her laughter.

  “Mom, it’s Jane.”

  Her mother gasped. “Are you alright? He hasn’t found you, has he?” She could hear the plea, the prayer, in her mother’s questions.

  “No, I’m okay, mom. I’m getting ready to move again. I just wanted to talk to you. I got your picture and,” she swallowed, “I miss you mom.”

  She didn’t want to alarm her mom by demanding to know where the flowers came from. “The flowers were beautiful.”

  She could almost see her mother’s smile when she answered.

  �
��Thank you. A nice man who’s looking at the center for his own mother brought them to me.”

  “Oh?” Joy asked. “Why did he bring them to you?”

  “Oh, he came to visit and look at the place and I spent a little time telling him about the classes they have here. And the food.”

  Joy laughed. Her mother and her classes.

  “So he came back and brought you flowers?” She wasn’t sure why this was eating at her, but something wasn’t sitting right with her. Call it intuition or a gut feeling, but something seemed off.

  “Yes, he came by to say thank you and brought them to me.” Her mother didn’t sound so sure anymore, either, but Joy could hear her putting a lightness in her tone she didn’t think her mother entirely felt.

  “Is his mom coming to live there?” Joy asked. If the man’s mother was moving in, then there was nothing to worry about.

  “Next week,” her mom said and she could hear the smile in her voice. Her mother amazed her with how open and welcoming she could be with people after all she’d been through.

  Joy found herself nodding even though her mom couldn’t see her. “That’s great mom. If her son’s so nice, she must be, too, huh?”

  She was quiet, then, knowing she needed to say goodbye but not wanting to. It had been so long since she’d been able to talk to her mom and she didn’t want to let her go. But this was crazy. She needed to say goodbye. She was taking too many chances now.

  “I love you, mom.”

  She heard her mother’s sob on the other end of the line. “I love you, Jane. I wish… I wish so much.”

  “I know.” She did too. She wished her dad had never died. Wished her mom had never met and married Turner. That she’d gone to a lawyer further away from home that day she tried to leave him. That he hadn’t found out what her mother was doing.

  Maybe if she’d been there when her mom was dating him she would have seen something her mother didn’t. Had some clue that the man was a sociopath. That he wasn’t’ capable of loving her mother. That to him, her mother was a possession.

  She hung up then, hurrying into her cottage. But as she threw her clothes into her bag, the man with the flowers still ate at the back of her mind. Her heart was racing and she knew it wasn’t only because she was about to leave this place she loved. And in particular one man she didn’t want to leave.

  Why would that man bring her mother flowers if all she’d done was talk to him about the classes the center had to offer? It didn’t make sense, did it?

  “He’s probably just being nice.” She was talking to herself now. That was never a good sign.

  Still, it needled at her. And the more she thought about it, the more she started to panic. If Turner found her mom, wouldn’t he be there, not some strange man? Surely the man was just trying to make sure his mother had some friends lined up when she came.

  Unless the man had been sent to watch her? Or sent to bring her back?

  She felt sick to her stomach at the thought. Her mother would die if she went back to that man. Of that, she had no doubt.

  Chapter 27

  Turner watched the woman walking toward him. She kept her head down. He didn’t remember Debra’s daughter doing that very often.

  The girl had been so damned full of herself, always acting like the world should stop turning if she gave the word. Like people owed her something.

  Still, this was her. He was sure of it. He hadn’t been able to get her alone in the last day. She walked out to her car at night with friends and gone home with a man who spent the night. Tramp.

  Still he had her now. She was walking from the parking lot to the main lodge and it was early enough that no one else was around.

  He waited until she was past him in the dim light and then stepped from the shadows.

  “I’ve been waiting for you, Jane.”

  The woman stopped and turned, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

  “Excuse me?”

  Turner studied her, stepping closer.

  She took a step back, panic starting to fill her eyes.

  And another step. Dammit, he needed to grab her.

  But something was off.

  She took one more step and the light from one of the lampposts spilled over her and he saw her clearly.

  It wasn’t her. Fuck! It wasn’t her.

  He smiled, stopping. “Sorry. Wrong person.”

  He turned and moved away from the girl quickly, not wanting to draw any more attention to himself.

  Hopefully she wouldn’t report him. If he got lucky, she’d assume he had been playing a joke on someone he knew and mistook her for that person.

  It wasn’t like he’d had a weapon or threatened her or anything.

  He needed to get his ass to New Jersey and see if his PI’s lead panned out. He was so damned tired of chasing these women. So damned tired of waiting for the chance to get his wife back where she belonged. To teach her that she can’t ever get away.

  Chapter 28

  Dread pooled in Joy’s stomach and chest. Should she go to her mom this time instead of a new place? But dammit, she’d just purposefully led Turner here. If she went straight to her mom now, she’d lead him right to her?

  But if he already knew she was there, Joy needed to get to her.

  She covered her mouth, tears starting to form in her eyes as she paced. She was so tired. So damned drained and tired of trying to fight this battle alone. It was too much.

  A knock on her door froze her to the floor.

  “Joy, it’s Kaeden. Open up.”

  Damn it. She closed her eyes. She should have been out of here already. She should be gone.

  “Joy, I know you’re in there. I saw you when I was coming across the field and I know something’s wrong. I saw the way you were running. Open up and talk to me.”

  Damn. Damn. Damn. She brushed at her cheeks and took a deep breath. This was fine. She would simply deliver the line about a family emergency to his face instead of in a note and then be on her way.

  She opened the door and plowed into her story without giving him time to say another word. “I’m sorry Kaeden. I can’t talk now. I have a family emergency. I need to catch a flight out of here in an hour.”

  He raised a brow. “The nearest airport is 70 miles away so I don’t think you’re going to make it.”

  She didn’t answer him. She had become a very adept liar in the last two years but him catching her like this had flustered her beyond words. She’d been so concerned with giving him a timeframe that wouldn’t allow her time to talk to him that she’d forgotten that the airport was so far away.

  She went to her bag and continued throwing things into it.

  He stepped into the room and stood behind her. Too close. So close she could feel the heat coming off him and wanted nothing more than to sink into his arms and let him tell her everything would be alright. That he would help her in this. That she didn’t have to keep carrying the weight of her mother’s safety on her own.

  “Joy, tell me what’s going on.” His words were soft and low, but forceful just the same.

  She shook her head, zipping up her bag.

  He went to her drawers and started to pull them open. They were empty.

  “You’re taking everything,” he said.

  She nodded. “I don’t know when I can make it back.”

  The words nearly broke her. She could see the sun beginning to break through the windows, soft and muted the way it was at first daybreak. Evelyn would be waking up now. If Joy didn’t leave, she was going to have to face more than just Kaeden, and looking into his eyes and saying goodbye was going to be hard enough.

  Why did he have to come? Why did he have to push her like this?

  He came and put his hands on her arms, his chest pressed to her back, strong and tempting.

  “Talk to me. Tell me how I can help.”

  She did the only thing she could. She pulled away and lashed out. “You can help by getting out of my way so I can leave
. I need to get out of here.”

  She grabbed her bags, the two small suitcases that held all she had left and walked to the door. If she didn’t leave now, she wouldn’t make it. She wouldn’t be able to walk away and everything in her was screaming that she needed to go.

  The thing was, she still didn’t know where to go. Her gut was telling her to go to her mother, to protect her, but she was terrified of leading Turner there. And terrified he was already there.

  She pulled open the door. She needed to run. Needed away from this man so she could think. So she could figure out her next move.

  As her foot hit the porch, Kaeden spoke.

  “Jane!”

  She didn’t move. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

  Maybe she’d misheard him. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her.

  She felt him come up behind her but he didn’t put his hands on her this time.

  “I want to help, Jane. I want to help with whatever it is that sent you running two years ago. With whatever it is that has your mom in hiding.”

  Her shoulders slumped and she let her bags fall to the floor. And then she broke as sobs wracked her body.

  Kaeden’s arms came around her and he pulled her in close, shushing her as he held her.

  She didn’t know how long they stood there. Long enough for the sun to come fully up in the sky, for the world to come alive around them. When the first cabin door opened somewhere down the row and the sound of children’s laughter broke the air, Kaeden pulled her inside and shut the door.

  “Tell me everything, Jane,” he said, pulling her down next to him on the small couch on one side of her cabin and taking her legs to drape them over his lap.

  She took deep gulping breaths and tried to settle herself enough to talk. It took time and a lot of tissues before she was ready.

  “I have to protect my mother from her husband.”

  “Your stepfather?” Kaeden asked.