Engage (Billionaire Series) (7 page)

We sat
on a big rock inside the cave for a few minutes, listening to the beating of
the rain above us and the quiet sounds of our own breathing. We were sitting
close together in the little cave, so close that I could feel the heat
radiating off his body and see the fine, golden hairs on the side of his face.

“Mathis,”
I said nervously.

“What
is it?” he asked, and looked at me in concern. “Are you getting wet? Is the
cave witch trying to put a spell on you?”

His
eyes were looking intensely into mine, and although his tone was joking, his
entire manner was serious – concerned for me, searching deeply in my face for
any sign of fear or discomfort. I saw how close his mouth was, and my heart
beat a little faster. I licked my lips subtly, wondering if his would be soft
if I kissed them, if they would feel damp or smooth, how hard they would press
against mine.

“I –
maybe she is putting a spell on me,” I admitted. “I feel… weird.”

“Weird?
Strange?” Mathis repeated, and his eyes darted down to my lips. I felt the heat
rising in my cheeks, and I was suddenly nervous, but excited. “Strangeness is a
definite sign of enchantment.”

“I – if
I go into an enchanted sleep,” I began, and then stopped, feeling silly and
embarrassed for what I was about to suggest.

“Don’t
worry,” Mathis said, and he leaned in even closer to me, putting his lips to my
ear and whispering, “I know what the handsome prince is supposed to do if he
finds that the princess has fallen into an enchanted sleep.”

He
pulled back just a little, and hesitated, his lips just a few inches from mine.
I held my breath, immobilized. I almost closed my eyes, wanting more than
anything for his lips to meet mine, but at the last second, I pulled away, too
nervous to go through with it.

“It’s
fine,” I said, embarrassed, “looks like I didn’t go to sle–”

I didn’t
get to finish my excuse as Mathis leaned in and captured my lips with his. It
was short and sweet, his lips meeting mine for a few wonderful seconds, soft
and gentle and perfect. My heart fluttered and I took in a deep breath of air
as he drew away, trying to regain my equilibrium.

I
looked shyly up at Mathis, nervous about his reaction. He was smiling at me,
his eyes twinkling.

“Just
in case,” he said.

***

We were
sitting in the yard, side by side on the stone wall overlooking the lake, when
Uncle Andy approached us.

“Hi
Mandy, Mathis,” he greeted us. “She’s not bothering you is she, Mathis?”

“Quite
the opposite, actually,” Mathis smiled up at him. Uncle Andy gave a short
laugh, but frowned as he caught sight of our joined hands.

“Why
are you holding hands?” he asked, his voice neutral, as if he was curious. “She’s
not a child any more, Mathis. She’s fifteen years old.”

“It’s
fine, Uncle Andy,” I told him, excited to share my newfound boyfriend with the
world. “We’re dating.”

Uncle
Andy laughed, and Mathis and I shared a quick look, both of us a little
confused.

“How
sweet the two of you look. Like regular little lovebirds,” he said, smiling at
us. “You’re getting a little old to be playing childish games, though, Mandy,”
he added.

“I’m
not–” I protested, but Uncle Andy cut me off.

“Mathis,
I wonder if I could borrow you from this lovely lady for a little while? We
still have a few things to go over. It won’t take long.”

“Can’t
it wait until tomorrow?” I asked. “We were thinking that maybe we could take
the boat out.”

“No,”
said Mathis, looking up at my uncle’s face, giving my hand a little squeeze and
letting it drop back onto the stone wall. “It’s fine, Amanda. I’ll see you a
little later.” Uncle Andy nodded and started walking back to his office.

“OK,” I
agreed, knowing that Mathis had responsibilities to take care of with my uncle.
“See you later.”

I leaned
over and snuck a quick peck on his soft, tan cheek before he got up and
followed my uncle back towards the house.

I
waited on the wall for a little while, watching the birds swoop low across the
lake as the sun set. I wondered how long their business would take. After a
while, I walked back towards the house, selecting a book from my uncle’s
library and waiting for Mathis to come in.

But he
never did. After almost three hours, I got up and went in search of him,
checking the windows to see if he was in the garden, peeping into doors and
expecting to see a tousled, light-brown head behind every one. He was nowhere
to be seen. Finally, I went to the door of my uncle’s office, wondering if they
were still at work. It was open, but the only figure sitting inside was that of
my uncle.

“Uncle
Andy? Is Mathis around?” I asked timidly.

He
looked up from his paper and gestured for me to come in. I entered and stood in
front of him, expectant.

“Oh
Mandy, Mathis had to go back to the city,” he said in an apologetic tone.

“W-what?
Why?” I asked, my heart suddenly clenching up as if it were a sponge being
drained of water.

“I’m
sorry, Mandy. It was important business, and it couldn’t be put off. You’ll
have to be a big girl and understand that.”

“Will
he be coming back soon?” I asked. “He didn’t even say goodbye to me.”

“Not
sure. I really can’t say,” Uncle Andy said. “But I’ll tell you what – if you’re
feeling lonely, maybe we can go out on the lake tomorrow, just you and me. Do
the catching up we haven’t gotten to do yet.”

I
offered a grin in response to his wide smile, but inside, my stomach felt like
ice.

Quality
time with Uncle Andy for the rest of the summer was great, but I still felt
lonely for Mathis. Every day I thought that maybe he’d return, but he never
did. And I never saw him again.

Between the time
change and the rapid pace of the meetings, Jennifer wasn’t entirely sure what
day it was when she found herself on the plane, on her way back to New York.
They’d been in the air for about an hour, both her and Philip in their own
worlds. He was going over the finalized details of the trip’s negotiations
while she was reading through the notes she’d taken in the notebook Philip had
purchased for her after their first meeting. She’d caught him watching her a
few times as she was jotting down various tidbits of information and she
wondered what he thought of her attention to detail. Not that he’d tell her. In
some ways, she thought they were closer than when they’d left New York – she
was sure he smiled at her differently than he did other women – but he hadn’t
even touched her since they’d left the city.

“Jennifer,” Philip’s
voice drew her from her reverie. “Will you join me for a drink?”

She looked over her
shoulder and saw him smiling at her from the mini-bar. Her stomach did a
flip-flop that had nothing to do with being on a plane. Jennifer couldn’t help
smiling to herself. As she made her way towards him, he turned to the server
and said something about privacy. Something heated coiled in Jennifer’s belly
as the young man behind the bar excused himself. By the time she reached
Philip, they were alone in the cabin.

For a moment, she
thought he was going to hand her a drink. Instead, he wrapped an arm around her
waist and pulled her to him, bending his head to cover her mouth with his. She
gave a little gasp of surprise and he took full advantage of her lips parting
to thrust his tongue between them. She pressed her body against his and felt
him hard and waiting. She’d been craving this since they’d left things
unfinished at the hotel eons ago. The embers that had been smoldering since
then burst into flame and she opened her mouth further, deepening the kiss.

Philip’s hands slid
under her skirt and Jennifer moaned into his mouth, her hands falling to his
belt. She made short work of his buckle and zipper, but the moment he pulled
aside the now-soaked crotch of her panties and ran his finger along her slit,
her hands fell away.

“Please,” she heard
herself begging but was too needy to be embarrassed. She would beg on her knees
if it would get her what she wanted.

“What do you want?”
Philip’s voice was rough as his other hand finished what she’d started.

“You,” she looked
up at him, her eyes wide.

“Be more specific,”
he ordered. One finger teased at her entrance and she whimpered.

“I want your...”
she wasn’t sure she could say the word. Brad had always wanted her to talk
dirty to him, but when she finally had – the memory made her cringe.

“Say it,” Philip’s
voice snapped her back to the present. “What do you want?” He pressed the heel
of his hand against her clit and her knees trembled.

“I want your cock
inside me,” Jennifer blurted out the words. She couldn’t hold back anymore. She
needed him.

“Good girl,” he
murmured as he pulled her leg up around his waist.

His hips snapped
upward and Jennifer quivered. It was too much and she wasn’t ready. She was
wet, but far too tight. And yet, Philip was buried inside her, his full length
sheathed inside her. He captured her mouth once more as he began to thrust into
her, swallowing every cry. Her hands clung to his shoulders as he fucked her.
There was no other word for what he was doing. Every stroke lifted her off of
the one foot that was still on the ground, forcing its way deeper inside her
until she wasn’t sure where she ended and he began. Their clothes rasped
against each other’s, the sound loud in the still air. The edge of the bar was
hard against her back and every time Philip slammed into her, she hit it until
she knew she’d have a bruise, but she didn’t care. The building lust that she’d
been carrying inside her since that interrupted encounter in the hotel room was
at its peak. She nearly sobbed with her need for release.

Then Philip’s hips
jerked and he hit something deep inside her that sent sparks shooting through
her and she was cumming, crying out into his mouth as his hips flexed and he
emptied himself, his cock pulsing against her spasming walls. Jennifer’s leg
buckled and only Philip’s arms kept her from falling. Their kiss broke and her
head fell forward, eyes closing as everything around her went gray, then white.

They stood together
for several minutes, breath slowing, hearts returning to their normal beats.
Finally, Philip eased himself out of her and Jennifer let out a quick exhale,
her pussy throbbing. She leaned back against the bar, still not quite able to
move.

Philip smiled down
at her, his eyes nearly glowing. “You’re learning.”

Jennifer watched as
he returned to his seat. Had he been referring to the sex or the job? Nothing
on his face gave her an answer. And yet, she realized, it didn’t matter. A
smile played about her lips as she headed back to her own seat.

She was still
smiling as she followed Philip off the plane, her every step light, as if she
were walking on air. The moment she saw two limos waiting, her smile fell, the
joy inside her deflating. She knew what was coming even as Philip turned
towards her.

“You can go home,”
he held out a phone, identical to his. “This is your work phone. Keep it on at
all times and I’ll call you when I need you.”

Jennifer took the
device with numb fingers. It was much nicer than the one currently in her
purse. That one barely had Internet capabilities. She wasn’t sure she could
handle this one.

Again displaying
his uncanny ability to know what she was thinking, Philip added, “you’ll get
used to it.” He stretched out his hand with something else in it. “Use this for
the limo.”

She took the credit
card without a word, desperately hoping her expression didn’t portray how
confused she was by all of this. Philip wasn’t acting as if he was mad at her,
but he also wasn’t giving any indication of the amazing sex they’d just had, as
if it had never happened. It wasn’t like she was expecting him to treat her
like a girlfriend, but was it too much to ask for just a little bit of emotion?

“Get some rest,”
Philip gave her a half-smile. “You’re going to need it.”

Jennifer grinned as
she watched him climb into the limo. There it was, that brief acknowledgement
that told her he hadn’t forgotten what they’d done, that it was still on his
mind. It was enough for now.

“Miss?” The limo
driver opened the door for her.

“Thank you,”
Jennifer said as she got into the vehicle. She was still replaying every moment
of her and Philip’s encounter when she arrived at her apartment.

As she walked up
the stairs, she forced herself to focus. Rachel would be waiting, eager for
details.  Just as she’d suspected, the moment the door opened, she saw her
roommate sitting on the couch, an expectant expression on her face. Rachel’s
dark hair was pulled back in a sloppy ponytail, and she was wearing her flannel
pajama pants. Any worry that Jennifer had that the up-and-coming chef would
need to rush away to work vanished. Rachel was ready to stay in for the night,
which meant she wouldn’t rest until she’d extracted every last detail of the
trip and the events leading up to it from Jennifer.

“I’ll tell you
everything,” Jennifer said preemptively. “Just let me take a quick shower
first.”

“Oh,
alright
,”
Rachel nodded. She gave Jennifer a sweet smile. “Don’t take too long! I’ll be
waiting.”

“I’m sure you
will,” Jennifer sang back to her as she rushed to her room.

***

After taking her
shower, Jennifer rummaged through her drawers, her wet hair dripping onto her
shoulders as she searched for her favorite pajamas. The clock told her it was
nearly nine o’clock, but her body disagreed. She knew she was going to be up
for a while answering questions and she wanted to be comfortable doing it.

“There you are,”
she grabbed onto the faded cotton pants. Once dressed, she quickly fixed her
hair into two braids. A glance in the mirror told her that the pigtails and her
honey bunny pajamas made her look like a child, but she didn’t care. She just
wanted to curl up on the couch and talk to her best friend. She didn’t need to
look like a grown-up while doing it.

“Jennifer!” Rachel
called from the living room. “There’s some guy here to see you.”

A shiver of desire
ran through her as Jennifer reached for the doorknob. She hesitated, looking
down at what she was wearing. Did she really want Philip to see her this way?
Then again, she thought, it wasn’t like they were at work. This was her home.
He couldn’t expect her to be anything but herself here, could he?

Jennifer set her
jaw. She was comfortable and if Philip didn’t like it, then maybe he should’ve
told her that he was coming to her place and how he wanted her to dress.
Butterflies danced in her stomach as she opened the door and headed for the
living room, unable to stop the smile on her face.

“Phil-” she
stopped, pleased expression turning to one of near-horror.

Golden hair and
brown eyes. Tall, muscular, with a strong, masculine face. The corners of his
mouth lifted into a soft smile as he responded to her presence, “Jennifer!”

Jennifer couldn’t
breathe. She could barely say his name. “B-Brad?”