The Billionaire Bride Test

by Elle James

  “What did she mean she loved to watch you on Monday nights?” Jane asked.

  “She must have mistaken me for someone else. I didn’t want to argue with her.” He held the passenger door for her to climb up into the truck.

  Her skirt hiked up, showing a significant amount of thigh.

  Max’s groin tightened as he spotted the bag on the floorboard.

  If he was not mistaken, she’d come prepared to stay the night. His actions would determine whether or not she actually made the decision to stay.

  He wished she’d come with a playbook. Having been a quarterback, he’d made decisions on the fly, based on the movements of players on the field.

  With Jane, Max was playing a position he wasn’t familiar with and winging it all the way.

  “That was fun,” she said, as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “I never knew two-stepping was so easy.”

  “You learned quickly. Next time, we’ll stay long enough to learn some of the line dances. I think you’ll enjoy those, as well.”

  She smiled and sat back in her seat. “I’d like that.” She turned toward him, her smile widening. “But right now, I’d rather go somewhere quiet, where we can hear ourselves think.”

  “I’d tell you it was quiet out at the ranch, but the cicadas are in full force, singing up a storm. They can be as loud as the band at the Ugly Stick.”

  “But it’s a different kind of noise. I don’t feel like I have to shout over them to carry on a conversation.”

  “True,” Max said. He hoped they wouldn’t be carrying on lengthy conversations. Not when he’d rather be kissing every inch of her naked body.

  By the time he drove through the gates of his ranch, he was ready to strip, throw her over his shoulder, carry her up to his bedroom and make sweet love to every inch of her beautiful body.

  As he shifted into park in front of the house, he drew in a deep breath and let it out before he climbed down. Rounding the front of the truck, he opened the passenger door, gripped Jane around the waist, lifted her out of her seat and let her slowly slide down his body until her feet touched the ground.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck. When their mouths collided, it felt like spontaneous combustion ignited. Adrenaline raced through his veins, and his desire shot straight to his cock

  He lifted his lips from hers and rested his forehead against hers.

  “I’ve wanted to hold you like that all night,” she said, echoing his thoughts.

  “Babe, I haven’t thought of anything else.” Max kissed her again, his hand sliding down her back to cup her ass. He pressed her against the ridge of his cock, nudging his hardness against her soft belly.

  He groaned and leaned back. “Tell me to stop now. I’m not so certain I’ll be able to stop later.”

  She shook her head and cupped his cheek. “Don’t stop. I haven’t thought of much else since you invited me to stay at the ranch. I can’t tell you how many times I packed and repacked my bag.” She laughed. “I’m not certain what’s in it at this point. And I really don’t care. As long as I can spend an evening with you. I’m not asking you to marry me, or to promise to commit the rest of your life to making me happy.” She leaned up on her toes. “And I know I’m babbling. So, kiss me.”

  Max gave her a brief kiss, and then bent and scooped her and her bag up in his arms, carrying her into the house, up the staircase and into the master bedroom before he set her back on her feet. This was what he’d wanted since their first date. And finally, she was there with him. Now, if only he could keep her there forever.

  Chapter 13

  Jane laughed and clung to him. “You didn’t even breathe hard coming up the steps.”

  “It’s the adrenaline. Perhaps, I read too much into your request for me to kiss you, but I hope I didn’t.”

  She looked up at him, her cheeks heating along with the rest of her body in response to the desire shining from his eyes. “You’re not reading too much into my request. I want more than a kiss.” To prove it, she reached for the top button of his shirt and flicked it open.

  Max closed his eyes, a growl rumbling in his chest. “Too slow,” he murmured.

  “Is that so?” she asked, a smile tugging at her lips. She increased the pace, flipping open the buttons and yanking loose his shirttail from the waistband of his trousers.

  He shrugged out of the garment and flung it across the room.

  Then he spun her around and slid the zipper of her skirt down.

  Jane shivered, her body on fire. When the skirt caught on her hips, she shoved it the rest of the way down her thighs and kicked free of it.

  Then she turned to face him, wearing only her bra, a pair of thong panties that did nothing to cover her ass and the cowboy boots. And she’d never felt sexier.

  His gaze raked over her, his desire warm in his eyes. “You’re amazing.”

  “You’re overdressed,” she said and reached for the button on his jeans, wrestling it free with a flick of her wrist.

  As the denim fell down around his ankles, he toed off his boots and stepped free of the jeans, revealing he’d gone commando beneath.

  “Now, you’re overdressed,” he said, standing in front of her completely naked and absolutely magnificent in his male glory. His cock jutted out straight and hard.

  Jane’s core coiled and heated. She reached behind her and unhooked the catches on her bra, letting the straps slip down her arms. Her breasts bounced free. The coolness of the airconditioned room and the way he was looking at her made her nipples tighten into hard little beads.

  When she raised her hands to her hips and the elastic of her panties, he stopped her with both hands covering hers.

  “Let me,” he said, his voice deep and rough.

  She gave him a slight nod and lifted her hands, surrendering to whatever he had in mind.

  He backed her up until she bumped into the king-size bed and sat on the edge. Then he leaned over her until she lay back on the mattress and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  Max kissed her, driving his tongue between her teeth to claim hers in a long, soul-defining caress that left her breathless and longing for more.

  Leaving her mouth, he trailed his lips across her chin and down her neck to the pulse beating so fast at the base of her throat.

  Her body was on fire, the flames threatening to consume her.

  Max traveled down her body, stopping to capture one of her breasts in his palm while he took the other into his mouth, sucking hard, and then teasing the nipple with flicks of his tongue and gentle nips.

  Jane moaned and arched off the mattress, wanting him to take more, to completely devour her, one bite, one flick and one touch at a time.

  “Max,” she whispered.

  “Yes, Jane,” he said, his breath blowing warm air over her damp nipple, sending shivers across her nerve endings.

  “Take me. Come inside me,” she said on a strangled sigh. “I want you.”

  “I will,” he promised. “When you’re ready.”

  “Oh, sweet heaven, I’m ready,” she cried. Her body ached with her desire and her core heated, her channel slick with her need.

  Still, he took his sweet time caressing every inch of her with his mouth and tongue. Leaving her breasts, he trailed kisses down her torso, paying homage to each rib and the indention of her bellybutton. He didn’t stop until he reached the edge of her panties.

  Hooking his fingers into the elastic, he dragged them down, exposing the tuft of curls covering her sex. Pulling her panties further down her legs, he licked her inner thighs, causing another moan to escape her lips.

  “Hurry,” she begged. “I can’t wait much longer.”

  His chuckle warmed the skin over her calves and finally, he tugged her panties past her ankles, freeing her to spread her legs and open herself to him.

  When she tried to kick off her boots, he laid his hands over her feet. “No,” he said. “Leave them on.”

  Inch by inch, he worked his way up
her legs, trailing his fingers up the inside of her thighs to her wet center. He slipped two digits into her channel and swirled in the juices.

  Jane closed her eyes, writhing against the comforter, lost in the haze of an overpowering lust.

  “Please,” she moaned. “Don’t make me wait.”

  “Soon,” he said. “First, I want you to come apart.”

  “I am.”

  “No, you haven’t,” he said. “Not yet.”

  Max dipped the fingers of one hand into her and parted her folds with the other. Then he bent to flick the strip of flesh between.

  Jane pulled up her knees and dug her heels into the mattress, rising up to meet Max’s mouth.

  He swirled his tongue over her clit, again and again.

  Jane catapulted over the edge, rocketing into the stratosphere on an orgasm that shook her body to its very core.

  She held still for a long moment and then pumped her hips, urging him to continue teasing her senses until she’d spent the fiery sensations and lay back against the mattress, breathing hard as if she’d run a marathon.

  Then she was pulling on his hair, dragging him up her body until his cock nudged her entrance.

  He paused, leaned to the side and dug into the drawer beside the bed. Seconds later, he held up a small packet, tore it open and leaned back to roll the condom over his engorged staff.

  “I’m…glad…someone can still think,” Jane said, her voice broken, her breathing coming in strangled gasps.

  He bent to kiss her, his mouth tasting of her sex. With his sheathed erection poised at her entrance, he kissed her again and slid inside her at the same time.

  Jane dug her feet into the mattress and rose to meet his thrust, taking him all the way inside her.

  Her channel clenched around his wide girth.

  He remained buried inside her long enough for her to adjust to his size. When she thought she couldn’t take more, he moved out of her.

  She gripped his butt cheeks and pulled him back in.

  He settled into a slow steady rhythm, increasing the speed incrementally until he was pumping in and out of her like a piston.

  Jane’s fingers dug into his ass, her thoughts scrambled, her focus on the man making love to her like they might not have tomorrow.

  Sensations built to a roiling crescendo, and she came again.

  At that exact moment, Max thrust one last time and remained deep inside her, his cock pulsing with his release, his body rigid.

  When at last his muscles relaxed, he collapsed on top of her and rolled them both to the side. His breath was ragged, and his hand curled tightly against her hip.

  She lay with her cheek against his chest, listening to the rapid beat of his heart and reveling in what had just happened between them.

  She’d brought him to this point. He’d lost himself in her. It gave her a feeling of power and awe.

  They lay for a long time, connected so intimately. Jane didn’t want to move, didn’t want to leave, but knew she would have to all too soon.

  “Max,” a soft voice called to him.

  He blinked his eyes open and stared up into violet eyes so beautiful he smiled. “Hey, gorgeous.”

  “Hey,” Jane said. “I’d love to stay in bed with you all day, but I need to get home. I have a commitment I need to be at tonight, and I need to get ready.”

  He pulled her into his arms and held her against his chest for a long moment. “I’ll take you home on one condition.”

  She laughed, her naked body feeling so right against his. “And that is?”

  “That we do this again…soon.”

  “Deal,” she said.

  His dick hardened. “How soon do you have to leave?”

  “Within the next thirty minutes.” She leaned up on his chest and stared down into his eyes. “Do you realize it’s past noon?”

  “If you hadn’t kept me up all night, we wouldn’t have slept in so late.” He winked at her.

  “I didn’t know a man could come so many times in one night.” She wiggled against him, her soft abdomen doing sexy things to his hard-on.

  “Thirty minutes is a long time,” he said. “Unless you feel compelled to eat before we leave.”

  “It’s a good thing we had a snack at four this morning. I’m not starving…” she said, “for food.” Jane kissed his neck and worked her way down his body, kissing his neck, collarbone and lower to take a dark nipple between her teeth and roll it gently.

  She didn’t pause long before she continued her trajectory south to the jutting evidence of his desire.

  Grasping him in her hand, she wrapped her fingers around his shaft and bent to take him into her mouth.

  Max groaned and thrust upward.

  She took all of him, sliding her warm wet tongue around him.

  He pumped in and out of her mouth, until he was so close to his release he struggled for control.

  Pulling free, he flipped her onto her back, located and applied protection, and then drove into her in one, swift thrust that buried him all the way inside her.

  She wrapped her legs around his middle and dug her boot heels into his buttocks, holding him inside her until he’d spent his release.

  When he finally came back to earth, he kissed her long and hard, and then gathered her in his arms and carried her into the shower.

  Together, they washed each other’s bodies and toweled the other dry.

  While Jane dressed in jeans and a white tank top, Max pulled on jeans, a black T-shirt and his boots.

  They kissed again and walked out to his truck in silence, the glow of their lovemaking so fresh they didn’t need to talk and probably couldn’t.

  The drive back to Austin was accomplished in relative silence, both lost in their own thoughts.

  When Max pulled up to the gate of Jane’s community, Jane leaned over him, asking the gate guard to let them through.

  At her house, she waited for him to open her door for her and help her down from the truck. She clung to him for a long moment.

  “When will I see you again?” he asked.

  “Sunday?” Jane suggested.

  “Sunday,” he said, but didn’t move away. “I don’t want to leave you.”

  “Mmm. I don’t want you to,” she said, laying her cheek against his chest. “If I didn’t have this commitment, I wouldn’t.”

  “Same.” He tilted up her chin and gave her a gentle kiss. “Sunday.”

  She nodded, stepped out of his arms and walked into her house, closing the door behind her.

  Max climbed into his truck, tempted to call his agent and tell him he was sick and couldn’t make the engagement that night. Now that he’d found Jane, he didn’t want to be away from her. Ever.

  But he didn’t back out of obligations. Especially ones as important as tonight’s.

  Max sucked in a deep breath, let it out and climbed into his pickup. Then he headed for his agent’s office where he’d pick up what he needed for that evening. He’d hole up at Tag’s place until the time he had to show up before he went on stage.

  If he didn’t believe in what they were doing, he wouldn’t have agreed to be a part of the whole production. But it was important, and he’d be there.

  Afterward, he’d call Jane and see if they could meet that night, instead of waiting until Sunday. He wasn’t sure he could wait that long.

  At his agent’s office, he was greeted with a duffle bag full of stuff that would be auctioned off that night. The only catch was that he had to wear it in order to display it to the potential bidders.

  Once he had the items, he left his agent with a handshake and a promise to meet him for coffee in the near future.

  With a couple of hours to spare, Max tossed the duffle into the back seat of the truck, locked it and went for a walk down the block.

  Hadn’t he seen a jewelry store near his agent’s office? He’d like to get something nice for Jane.

  Max found the jewelry store and entered, feeling like a bull in a c
hina shop. Everything was delicate and shiny. Though all the bling was pretty, it wasn’t something Max was interested in. Though he wasn’t enthralled with the items displayed, he could picture some of them on Jane, and he looked closer.

  Would she wear a diamond bracelet? He paused in front of glass display cabinet with shiny bracelets. His gaze moved to the next cabinet filled with diamond earrings. What about those? Would she wear them? Would she think he was a jerk for buying her jewelry after having sex?

  He shoved a hand through his hair and moved to the next display case.

  “Are you looking for something in particular?” the saleswoman asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Who are you buying for?” she asked.

  “A very special woman,” he said.

  “Your mother or grandmother?” she asked.

  “No. A…” he hesitated and ended up saying, “friend.”

  The woman gave him a gentle smile. “Only a friend?” she asked. “Do you love her?”

  Max’s pulse sped, and his face flushed with heat. Did he love Jane? “I’ve only known her for a week,” he admitted to the stranger.

  She shook her head. “When it’s the right one, you just know. I knew the moment I met my husband.” The women held up her hand with her wedding ring. “We’ve been married for thirty-five years. I still love him as much as the day I married him, if not more. I knew he was the one I wanted to grow old with.” She snorted softly. “And danged if we aren’t growing old together.”

  Max smiled at the woman. “Congratulations. Not many marriages last that long.”

  “Not many people work at them to keep them going. Marriage isn’t easy, but it’s wonderful if you marry the right person.”

  “How do you know when it’s the right person?” he asked.

  “Does she make you want to be with her twenty-four-seven?”

  He nodded.

  “Do you feel like half of you is missing when you’re not with her?” the woman asked.

  Max nodded. “Yes. I feel like I can’t remember how to breathe.”

  She smiled. “Sir, you’re in love.”

  He pressed a hand to his tight chest. “I am?”

  “Sounds like it to me. Otherwise, why did you come into the store?” She raised both eyebrows and tipped her head. “You passed the bracelets and earrings. What you’re really looking for is one of these.”