Billionaire's Virgin Stripper

by Lia Lee

  “I think you should give them time alone,” she said calmly.

  This had him shooting her a surprised glare. “You know who that is?” Logan was assuming that Meg too, had noticed the male guest who’d stalked after Cara.

  She buried her nose in her champagne glass, taking a languid sip. “Hmm, if I’m not mistaken, he looks like Jude Terrell, Cara’s ex.”

  The words sank into Logan’s brain like hot lead and he clenched his fists, willing himself not to explode. Meg’s next words had him almost steaming from the ears.

  “Look, since he happens to be here, why don’t you just let them get the chance to catch up?”

  “Are you fucking nuts?”

  Meg started, her champagne flute frozen midway to her lips. She stared in shock at Logan, as he’d never sworn at her before. Still, she couldn’t let herself be intimidated by him and held her ground. “I know she’s your surrogate, but you don’t have to go believing her sob story or whatever it was she fed you about her relationship. I feel like she’s bewitched you, Logan, and it’s probably going to take this incident for you to see you need to separate your emotions from your main objective—and that’s having her give you a baby. Nothing else.”

  The pounding in Logan’s temples grew and it was all he could do, not to roar the crowd of guests, with all the music, loud chatter, and festivities into silence.

  He reined himself in and leveled his gaze at Meg, who squarely met his eyes. “You may believe you have my best interests at heart, but I swear to fucking God, if you’ve stepped out of line this time—”

  He didn’t finish, but shook his head and spun around, marching in an angry line straight for that tent. Sighing to herself, Meg followed on his heels intent to witness how this debacle went down.

  ***

  Cara had just needed some time away from the crowd. She found this unoccupied tent, which was used to stash equipment and cables. For the first time since the night began, she took a deep breath that she could finally exhale completely. Slowly, the tension ebbed out of her but only left an emptiness that no amount of reassuring herself could fill. Why was it so hard to suddenly figure herself out?

  “It’s all too much to handle, isn’t it?” said a voice from behind her. Cara gasped and froze, too shocked to turn around.

  She heard advancing steps, just as the same familiar, spine-chilling voice added, “You’re feeling out of place, out of your league. You know in your heart that you don’t really belong. That you’ve only been fooling yourself all this while.”

  It was the sneer in his tone that finally had Cara stiffening her backbone to finally twist around to face Jude. Jude. “You found me,” she gritted, anger and bitterness overriding her confusion.

  “Was there ever any doubt that I would?” he murmured. “I got wind of the fact you’re headed this way, after I rang your mother weeks ago. All I spent my days doing, was frequent spots that I was sure you might visit. Art shops, coffee bars. Once, I even thought I caught sight of you, but it was only my imagination. In the end, getting to meet you tonight became a piece of cake, all through a single stroke of fortune.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” she snapped.

  Jude made to reply, when suddenly a towering figure burst into the tent. “Cara!”

  Logan stormed in and scanned the scene, and seemed to let out an imperceptible breath when he saw that Cara and Jude stood on opposite sides of the tent.

  Logan went straight to Cara and grasped her shoulders. “Are you okay?”

  Cara knew that only he could tell how much she internally quaked. She, however nodded, letting him know she was fine, now that he was here.

  Logan turned to Jude with his brows snapped together. “How did you get in here? This event is strictly by invitation only.”

  “Oh, I got invited, all right,” said Jude, whipping the said invitation out of his pocket and waving it in the air. “So unless you want to start a major scene—and believe me, I’m up for stirring a bit of scandal—then you best be civil with me, Irish. I saw more than a few nosy reporters out there and they seem in the mood for picking at any sniff of trouble.”

  “I did not give permission for any press to be given entrance tonight, so I don’t know what you’re talking about. Whatever the case, nothing will stop me from throwing your minging ass out of here in five seconds if you don’t bug off.”

  “No, you bug off,” growled Jude. “This isn’t about you. Matter of fact, it is about you. You steal my girl, fill her head with all sorts of stuff like she’s too good for her own kind—”

  “Her own kind?” Logan lunged forward but suddenly Meg was there, clutching his arm and holding him back.

  “Logan! Think of the trouble it will cause. Especially for Cara, not to mention the baby,” said Meg worriedly.

  “Whoa—what baby? Aw, fuck no, you better not be knocked up with some rich guy’s seed.” Jude had lost his cool stance and now looked almost as livid as Logan.

  “Jude, just leave. Maybe we can find a way to talk but not if you keep doing this.” Cara couldn’t help the way her body began to twitch and her hands wrung together in alarm.

  “Now I get it,” sneered Jude. “Talk about getting paid and laid. Now that really sucks, if it’s true.”

  “And what if it is?” asked Cara, her spunk returning in a flash as she felt Jude’s scorn. Why would he think she cared what he thought?

  “Then I was right about this being fishy. Because, girl, I don’t see him going around introducing you as his one and only or even as his baby mama. What are you, his side chick?”

  Cara would have retorted but Logan stepped in front of her, shielding her with his broad frame as he said, “It’s no concern of yours what she is. All that concerns you is that she’s not with you anymore. Get out.”

  Cara was almost afraid that Jude would call Logan’s bluff and decide to stay. She could just see both men turning to blows and it made her physically ill. But in the end, Jude simply raised his hands in mock surrender.

  “Fact is, I didn’t come to cause problems. Just wanted to make sure my baby girl was doing okay. But like you just pointed out, she’s not mine anymore is she? Just my rotten luck.” He gave a wry smirk, and then exited the tent.

  Logan turned to Cara. “You stay here, okay? I need to make sure he gets off my premises. Even if I have to toss him out myself.”

  “Logan, please, I don’t want any trouble for you,” Cara said with worry.

  Logan’s only reply was a thinning of his lips, before he bent and quickly planted a reassuring kiss on her cheek. “I’ll be back. You stay with her,” he added to Meg.

  Cara would have thought Meg would be the last person he would entrust with Cara’s welfare. She turned to the assistant with an accusatory glare but the blonde merely gave a mirthless smile. “Tonight didn’t turn out the way you planned it, did it?” Meg asked with barely veiled smugness.

  Cara didn’t bother to reply, and walked to the entrance of the tent, her hands crossed around herself as she rubbed on her shivering arms. She looked into the noisy throng of partyers and didn’t seem to catch sight of any altercation. She hoped against hope that Jude did indeed leave quietly and that Logan would not have to resort to any of the violence she’d seen simmering dangerously in his expression.

  ***

  Hours later, when the last guest had departed and the staff finished with clearing up after the party, the whole mansion was finally quiet. Cara retired to her room to wait for Logan. Those moments gave her time to think things through, especially with what she’d been confused about even before Jude showed up.

  When Logan finally knocked and came in, it was to find Cara half in shadow. He’d tugged off his bow tie, and left a few buttons undone at his throat. He advanced into the room and stood just yards from Cara, who was fighting the urge to wring her hands, and simply linked them behind her.

  “Logan, about tonight. I’m really sorry.”

  “Please don’t apologiz
e,” he said with a tinge of impatience. “I don’t think this is any of your fault, believe me.”

  “But it is! If I hadn’t told you about Jude, then this wouldn’t have happened. You wouldn’t have, in turn told Meg about Jude, and she wouldn’t have somehow got him to attend the party just to get to me.”

  “You really think that’s how it happened?”

  “How else? You did tell Meg about Jude, didn’t you?”

  “I didn’t give specifics,” he said. “I definitely didn’t divulge the private things you told me about how he treated you. I only mentioned you had an ex and that she should dig stuff up about him. I just wanted to keep myself informed. You really think she was the one behind his strange appearance?”

  “Logan, she was in charge of the guest list. No one would have got hold of the special invitation if she didn’t send it to them.” Cara sighed deeply. “I know you trust her a lot …”

  “After tonight, that trust is very much in question. You’re right, she’s the only one who could have set it all in motion. She’s the only link to Jude because she has prepared a whole dossier on him for me. On top of that, she went against my wishes and invited the paparazzi to the party all in a bid to carry out her plot. I still can’t figure out why she would do all this but my only guess is, she must have suspected we’ve become lovers,” he said gruffly and added with an angry shake of his head, “I’ll have to fire her.”

  “Please don’t do that,” Cara said with a calming touch on his arm. “Obviously she’s made some wrong judgment calls but only because she’s sincerely worried about you. I’m not surprised she considers me a threat to you and, in fact, I concur. So that’s why I think I should leave.”

  Logan’s head cocked to the side, as if to make sure he’d heard her right. “Leave? Why?”

  “I’ll just be more trouble if I stay. Jude knows exactly where I am now. He even knows I’m pregnant for you, thanks to Meg conveniently letting it slip. You don’t know him, Logan. He’s crazy and would do anything to fight back if thwarted.”

  “So what do you want to do? Be on the run again, while carrying my child?”

  “Logan,” Cara said beseechingly, head shaking from side to side as she looked up at him in confusion. Seeing the anger turning his face hard made her chest ache.

  “If you really think I’m going to let you just leave, then you don’t know me that well.”

  “Logan, I know we signed a contract, but I also know how much you value your private life. I can still have the baby, but if I leave I can at least be sure your reputation won’t ever be in danger from any gossip or worse, trouble with the law if the surrogacy leaks out.”

  “Then marry me,” he said huskily.

  Cara just stared at him, unable to piece a sensible response to the shocker he’d just dropped. Did she just hear Logan ask her to marry him?

  “That way, there can be no scandal or legal issues. You’ll be my wife, and the baby gets a real home and a family. Works perfectly in every way, doesn’t it? I’ve given it some thought, Cara, and I think it’s the best answer for this situation.”

  A sinking feeling settled in Cara’s stomach. For a second she’d hoped for a more romantic basis to his proposal. What a silly-minded girl she was.

  “I can’t marry you, Logan. How is that even an option right now?” She pushed her fingers through her hair impatiently. “It’s just not what I signed up for.”

  “It’s not what I originally planned either. But the more I think about it, the better it makes sense.”

  “Maybe for you it does. But a convenience marriage isn’t exactly what I planned for myself. I was conflicted enough about doing the surrogacy, but I finally convinced myself that it was just for under a year and then, I could try to sort my life out.”

  “Marry me and you won’t need to worry about that. About anything. I don’t need to tell you that as my wife, you’ll never lack a thing. If you want to pursue your art career, I’ll make sure you can reach your full potential. You’ll have a secure future and what’s more, the freedom of chasing your dreams without worrying about any other constraints. Because I’ll support you all the way.”

  The weight in her stomach grew heavier and heavier. Logan was promising her everything, except love.

  “Logan, I just think we’re two different people from two different worlds,” she said. “You need someone that will fit perfectly with you in public. Not someone like me.”

  “Someone like you? Cara, you’re lush,” he said, his Irish brogue thick with heat as he drew her close into his arms. “Watching you tonight, how you looked so gorgeous and elegant, when every other woman was trying too hard—we fit perfectly—in every—possible—way.”

  He claimed her lips in one sweeping pounce. Cara hesitated a moment but she couldn’t fight the sweet, red-hot pressure of his mouth. Her lips opened eagerly beneath his, as she brought her hands to cling to his strong neck. Drowning in the delirium of his desire, she fisted his golden-brown hair in adoration, feeling her whole soul wring in anguish at the finality that she couldn’t have him all, but she could have this.

  He reluctantly released her mouth and Cara was surprised to note how unsteady his breath was, as he skimmed those hot lips along her lower jaw, to taste the pulse at her throat. Cara trembled in his arms, her senses pounding wildly to a raucous inner beat.

  “What’s your answer going to be, darling girl?” Logan’s touch on her body had gentled, his breath more still as it tantalized the skin on her collarbone. Cara would have said yes then, to anything. The gentleness in his endearment, seemed almost affectionate, and it coiled a tightrope of need within her inner thighs.

  “This is far too important for me to take any chances,” he added. “We can hope for a safe pregnancy, but there’s no way to tell how difficult it’s going to be in the coming months. It’s your first pregnancy and I want you to feel the securest you can be, with me.”

  “Can I at least think about it some more?” she whispered, eyes fluttering down to shutter her inner emotions. “Or does my answer have to be right now?”

  “We don’t have to rush,” he told her with soothing gentleness, his hands rubbing up and down her arms. “But you should come to a decision as promptly as possible. The sooner we can make things official, the sooner we can just focus on the baby and the future.”

  If only the future, according to Logan, meant so much more than just a marriage that would be more or less in name only. Oh, sure, they had all this great physical chemistry, and most women would kill to be in her shoes, but could Cara truly settle for that?

  What if it was the best she could hope for with Logan? Wouldn’t it be best to simply take her chances, than walk away and lose it all—Logan and the baby?

  Worrying, or even thinking, became impossible. Logan’s satin-soft and warm lips were cascading kisses down her neck. As always, his slow-burn brand of desire was even more lethal than when he took a more aggressive, rugged approach.

  Sex couldn’t take the place of love, Cara knew that. But in these moments when he touched her, kissed her, looked at her a certain way, she felt the warm, fuzzy feeling just beneath her chest that said this wasn’t love, but close enough. How else could he pleasure her with such sensual eloquence, if he didn’t feel something for her? How could he not care, when he took so much time to bring her pleasure, stoking her sizzle until she crackled to scorching life, lost in lust and writhing helplessly beneath him?

  She loved the way his body loomed over hers and blotted out the whole world. He became the centerpiece of her universe.

  He stared deep into her eyes and her stomach twisted with butterflies. No matter how many times, the excitement and newness was the same, night after night. He gave her a sexy smile and bent to nuzzle her neck. “Your scent is magic.”

  “Another thing about me you like?” she half-teased, half-moaned.

  He chuckled deeply and admitted, “Oh, yes. I proper like your beautiful smell.”

  She smell
ed beautiful? Now that was a first. Cara giggled and buried her face in his chest. He joined in the humor, his laughter thickening and then shortening, the moment he set his hands on her body. Her breasts, her waist, her hips. He squeezed her flesh and groaned. “Lush.”

  Dear God, if he called her lush one more time, like that … She shuddered and gripped his shoulders, then raked her hands down his tattooed back, tugging him harder on top of her.

  Tonight’s passion was sweet and careful. No bondage, no commands. Just two minds, hearts, and bodies forming a bond, or so Cara imagined. Even if Logan simply wanted her close so he could protect the baby, even if his need for her was hinged on the physical—Cara was starting to feel his emotion. He wasn’t a single-minded machine intent to have his way alone. He did consider her as her own person, or he’d have simply demanded she accept his proposal. Instead, it almost felt like his delicious lovemaking was a way of breaking down her last reservations.

  Just shut off your worries and relish, were the words Cara told herself. Logan’s naked skin on hers, his manhood settled between her thighs and making her core clench, her breasts feeling heavy in his cupped palms …

  She could lose herself in this whirlwind passion they shared, and almost let herself believe it was all she needed for now.

  Much, much later, replete from their prolonged love fest, Logan drew Cara up beside him and held her gaze soberly.

  “Cara, I don’t want you to think I’m anything like your ex. This mansion isn’t your prison and you don’t need to feel like the contract traps you here with me. I want you to stay, and I want to be part of the pregnancy day to day. Watching you swell with child, experiencing it all with you as the baby grows and giving you the reassurance that you don’t have to face this alone. You understand, yes?”

  “I understand,” she whispered, reaching up and kissing him. He always made her feel like her opinion mattered. She wanted to tell him he didn’t need to try hard to convince her anymore. Whether she stayed or not, contract or not, she couldn’t say no to her heart.