CHERISH (The Billionaire's Rules, Book 12) (3 page)

Feeling
her own
power.

Her pussy was so wet it was dripping onto
the bed.

And she couldn’t wait for him to fuck her
from behind, as promised.

Cullen stepped back to the bed and
adjusted his grip on the stick.
 
“You’ve got five left,” he said in a formal voice.
 
“Can you take it?”

“I think so, Sir,” she said a in a quiet
voice.
 

And then he was spanking her ass again
with the ruler, and she was moaning, and the pain was so good.

So good.

He dropped the ruler and now he was so
excited, she could feel how hard he was as he entered her from behind.
 
She was so wet for him, and Cullen was
fucking her so
good
, so passionately.

His hard cock slid in and out, and he
grabbed her hair and pulled as he bit lightly on her ear.

Before she knew it, they were both
climaxing together.
 
His cock
released everything into her pussy, and she cried out, her orgasm intense and
fulfilling.

“I love you, Ivy,” he moaned into her ear
as his hips pumped the last of his seed into her.

“I love you, Cullen,” she whispered, as
the last of the beautiful orgasm rippled through her body.

They fell into a tangle together, the
stick forgotten.

***

Later, in bed, she laid her head on his
bare chest as he stroked her hair.

“The DA’s officially dropping charges
against me,” Cullen said, as the sweat was cooling on their bodies.

She glanced up at him.
 
“Are you sure?”

He nodded, still stroking her hair
slowly, gently.
 
“The DA himself
called me to tell me the news while I was in the office trying to deal with my
father’s arrest.”

“And they said they’re definitely not
pressing charges against you,” Ivy repeated.

“He assured me that none of the stuff
they had on me was ever going to see the light of day.
 
And he personally thanked me for saving
Becca’s life.”

Ivy felt a surge of joy and relief and
she clutched onto his body with her arms and even her legs, struggling to get
that much closer.
 
Their skin was
sticking together and that wasn’t even enough.

He’d been inside her, left part of
himself inside her deepest place—and even that didn’t seem enough.

Ivy’s hand moved down to Cullen’s penis
and began stroking it lightly with her fingertips.
 
Suddenly, it was hardening, stiffening,
rising
.

“I need to feel you all the way inside
me,” she told him, and then she was climbing on top of Cullen, allowing him to
penetrate her as she rode his hard cock.

She looked down at him, and then her eyes
fluttered closed.

“Ivy,” he moaned.
 
“You’re so wet.”

“I’m wet for you,” she said.
 
“Only for you.”

She rode him, rotating her hips,
rhythmically allowing him in, rising and falling, rising and falling, and then
his hands were grasping her hips and he was moving in time with her.

They were completely as one.

This
is what I needed
, she
thought, grateful to be filled by him, to feel even closer than a moment
before.

When he came again, she knew that it was
different.

He went deep inside, plunging himself all
the way.

Giving everything over to her, without
fear, without any reservation.

I’m
yours and you’re mine.

“Promise me we’ll always be together just
like this,” she said, as she felt him softening while still inside of her.

“Always,” he said, sighing, content.

She allowed herself to fall into his arms
once again.

As they lay together once more, Cullen’s
landline began ringing next to the bed.
 
Sighing, he reached across her body to grab it and answer.
 
“Sharpe here,” he said gruffly into the
cordless phone.

There was a long period of time where he
didn’t say anything.
 
But then he
looked at Ivy, and his expression almost seeming to be concerned for her.
 
“I understand,” he said into the
receiver, his voice sounding a bit stiff.
 
“Yes, I’d like to see you, too, under better circumstances….”

Ivy’s brow furrowed.

Who
does he want to see?

Already, she was feeling the heat of
jealousy flowing through her veins.

It had to be a woman on the phone.
 
Some ex, some flame from his recent past
coming to try and mess things up.

But then Cullen surprised Ivy when he
said, “Ivy, your mother’s on the phone,” and handed the cordless to her.

“Mom?” she said, surprised, as she held
the cordless to her ear.

“Honey, I’m sorry for what I did to you,”
her mother said, and then burst into tears.
 

“Mom, just—just try to calm down.”

“I don’t want to lose you over this,” her
mother sobbed.
 
“I am so sorry that
I interfered and hurt you.”

“You didn’t just hurt me,” Ivy said,
feeling pity for her mother, but also feeling a surge of anger when she thought
of the betrayal.

“I know I hurt your husband, and I
apologized to him as well.
 
And I
would love nothing more than to start over, if you’d let me.
 
Please forgive me.”

Ivy sat there with the phone in her hand,
as Cullen watched her curiously.

She battled competing emotions, trying to
think about what was really important.
 
And then it hit her like a ton of bricks.

What
matters is that I’m finally happy.
 
I’ve found the man of my dreams, and nothing can break us apart.
 
And I’m not going to stay angry with my
mother and have that anger burning up my insides, ruining the pure joy that I
feel.

She took a deep breath and let it out,
closing her eyes as she responded.
 
“I forgive you, Mom.”

There was a relieved outpouring of air
from the other end of the line.
 
“Thank you,” her mother said.
 
She sounded slightly calmer.
 
“Thank you, Ivy.”

“We can start fresh, okay?” Ivy told her,
purposefully lightening her tone.
 
“You know, maybe you and I could grab lunch in a couple of days.
 
How’s that sound?”

“That would be lovely,” came the
instantaneous response.
 
“And I’d
truly like to see Cullen as well.”

“Sure,” Ivy said, rolling her eyes as
Cullen grinned.
 

“I’ll let you go now, dear,” her mother
sighed.
 
“I’m glad we talked.”

“Me too, Mom.”

And she was.

***

2 WEEKS LATER

The restaurant was crowded, but the host
knew Cullen and instantly was able to find a table for them at a romantic spot
by the window.

Cullen and Ivy sat down and began
perusing their menus.

“I still can’t get over the change in
Becca Woodhouse,” Ivy marveled, as she thought about whether to order a soup or
salad.

“She’s doing fantastic—much better
than expected,” Cullen agreed.

Ivy and Peg had gotten together for
coffee earlier in the day and then visited Becca in the hospital.

She was out of critical care, talkative,
lucid and progressing quickly.

Ivy smiled as she looked out the window
and saw people walking by on the street, and somehow everyone seemed as happy
as she felt right then.
 
“Peg’s also
a lot nicer when she’s not trying to twist your arm to save her sister’s life,”
Ivy joked.

Cullen smiled, but the smile was tinged
with annoyance.
 
“I’m not sure I can
ever get past that,” he said.
 
“But
I’m trying now that the two of you are friends.”

The waiter arrived and they ordered wine,
and then calamari for an appetizer, to be followed by a pair of filet
mignon.
 
Cullen took his filet medium
and Ivy took hers medium well.

The waiter gave a slight bow, collected
their menus and left the table.

“Have I mentioned that you look
absolutely stunning?” Cullen asked, reaching for her hand across the table.

“You can mention it as often as you
like,” she said, as they made eye contact for a long moment.

“Oh, there’s nothing like young love,”
came the remark from nearby.

Startled, Ivy turned to see Xavier
Montrose standing there with a blond bombshell on his arm.
 
She was taller than him in her six-inch
heels.
 
She looked like she’d never
eaten a meal in her life.

Cullen shook his head.
 
“Xavier, are you still following us
around like a lost puppy?”

“Hardly,” Xavier said.
 
“I just noticed the two of you on our
way out and thought I’d stop by and say hello.”

“Hello,” Cullen said.

“And goodbye,” Ivy replied, rolling her
eyes.

Xavier grinned.
 
He enjoyed this, Ivy realized.
 
He was vaguely obsessed with Cullen and
probably always would be.

“I have to congratulate you on the
surgery you performed on the Woodhouse girl,” he said.
 
“It’s the talk of the town.”

“Somehow I highly doubt that,” Cullen
replied.

“And I’m a big enough man to admit when
I’m wrong,” Xavier said.

“Could’ve fooled me,” Ivy muttered,
sipping her water.

“You’re a great surgeon and I was wrong
to doubt you,” Xavier told Cullen, and it was as though someone had ripped that
compliment out of him by force.

“Thanks,” Cullen told him, nodding.
 
“I appreciate that, Xavier.”

Xavier stood there with his vacant blond,
waiting.
 
“And?” Xavier asked.

“And what?”
Cullen
said, looking confused now.

“And, now you’re supposed to say that I’m
a good surgeon too.”

Ivy looked down and tried not to openly
laugh at the man.
 

Cullen glanced up at his old friend.
 
“I didn’t ask for that compliment from
you, and I don’t intend to be forced into giving you a return compliment.”

The blond seemed more and more
uncomfortable now.
 
She lightly
tugged at Xavier’s arm.

Xavier shot her an annoyed look and then
turned back to Cullen.
 
“If you
think I’m a shit surgeon, just say it, Sharpe.”

Cullen looked up at him.
 
“You’re not a shit surgeon, Xavier.
 
You’re…adequate.”

Xavier looked enraged, his cheeks turning
red and blotchy.
 
“You can’t ever
give me credit, Sharpe.
 
That’s your
damn problem.
 
You know that?”

“And your problem is, you keep forgetting
that what I think of you doesn’t matter, Montrose.”
 
Cullen gave the man a wry grin.
 
“It’s not that big a deal.”

Xavier’s mouth worked as if to say
something else.
 
Instead, he
motioned for the blond to follow him.
 
“Have a nice dinner,” he said, through a locked jaw, and then the two of
them faded into the crowd at the front of the restaurant and presumably out
into the night.

Afterward, Cullen and Ivy just stared at
each other.

And then they both burst out laughing.

***

“Can you believe that idiot, Montrose?”
Cullen asked, as he shifted into third gear on the way home from the
restaurant.

“Please don’t ever let that man operate
on me.
 
Don’t even let him take my
temperature,” Ivy said.
 

Cullen laughed.
 
“You don’t have to worry about that.”

She rolled down the window and let the
air in.
 
It was feeling stuffy in
the car and she was getting a little carsick.

“That food was a bit rich,” she said,
stifling a belch with the back of her hand.

Cullen gave her a sidelong glance.
 
“Everything okay?”