Her Indecent Proposal (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Collection) (11 page)

He obliged.  He spent the next few minutes worshiping her breasts,
cupping the mini-globes in his big hands, catching the nipples between his
teeth and nibbling till she sucked in her breath and reached up to tug at his
shirt.

Sloane needed no further encouragement.  In quick time his clothes
were gone and he was pulling Melanie’s jeans down her legs.  Both naked now, he
climbed back into the bed but this time he lay on his back and pulled her on
top of him.  “Ride me,” he whispered.  “Tonight, you’re in control.”

For a moment she looked nervous but when he made no move to help she
bit her lip then straddled his hips and planted her hands in the middle of his
chest.  She positioned herself over him then slowly, gingerly, she began to
descend.

He could see the uncertainty on her face, the fear that this would
hurt.  Immediately, he reached up and began to tickle her nipples and her
nostrils flared as the thrill ran through her.  Then she drew in her breath and
sank down on his rigid shaft.

Melanie learned to ride Sloane that night, to take full control as
she set the pace for their lovemaking.  And when he could hold it no more and
shot his seed deep inside her she rode faster, bucking wildly, and then she
screamed her orgasm out loud as her vagina walls convulsed around him.

She collapsed on top of him and he let her lie there, panting,
struggling to catch her breath.  Gradually her breathing slowed and when he
began to stroke her back she settled more comfortably on his chest with a groan
of satisfaction.

“Was it good for you?” he asked, his hand never ceasing from its
caress.  “Not sore?”

“It was perfect,” she said on a sigh.  “I can’t believe I never
tried that before.”

He chuckled, pleased that she was contented, and slid over to his
side so she could nestle into him and drift off to sleep.  And as Melanie
slept, Sloane stroked her arm and stared, unseeing, up at the ceiling.  He may
have put some of her fears to rest but he had some fears of his own…

…chief of which was what the hell would Zena be coming with next?

 CHAPTER TWELVE

Oh, great.  Just what she needed.  She was already in a bad mood
after seeing Sloane’s ex the evening before and now she’d gotten up, ready to
face the work day, only to realize that her friend had arrived.  Yes, the same
unwelcome guest who showed up every single month without fail.

But this month she’d thought things would be different.  She was a
married woman now, one who’d been actively trying to get pregnant.  Melanie did
a quick rewind in her mind.  She’d been married to Sloane a month now and
they’d made love at least a dozen times.  Where the heck was her baby?  After
so many tries, shouldn’t she be good and pregnant by now?

Apparently, her body hadn’t gotten the memo.  It was chugging along
as per usual, totally forgetting the plan to pause along the way so she could
start a family.  Darn!

Now she would have to make extra effort in the coming months.  Not
that Sloane would mind, but it wasn’t like she had lots of time to play with. 
She was already thirty-four and she wanted to have her baby before she hit the
ripe and troublesome age of thirty-five.

Still fuming twenty minutes later she slammed out of the house and
into her car and made her way to the office.  And as if her day hadn’t started off
badly enough, it decided to get worse.  Ken Ferguson and his team were waiting
for her.

She glared at her financial controller.  “You could at least have
waited till I settled down before camping out in my office.”

Ken shook his head.  “This is serious, Melanie.  It can’t wait.”

“Okay,” she said with a sigh.  She knew she wouldn’t like what was
coming.  “Give me ten minutes.”  She glanced over at the two men and the woman
who had accompanied Ken.  “Meet me in conference room C.  I’ll be there
shortly.”

She watched them gather up their papers and laptop computers and as
they exited her office she drew in a long and steadying breath.  She needed
these few minutes alone to focus.

As CEO she’d taken her father’s multimillion dollar company to a
billion-dollar enterprise and although there’d been some obstacles along the
way she’d overcome them all eventually.  Lady Luck had been on her side all
these years but now it looked like the lovely lady was planning on throwing her
overboard.  Her latest acquisition had been a disaster, she realized, but how
bad was it, really?  She tightened her lips.  From the look on the faces of the
finance team things must be really bad.

And to think she’d bought the new company specifically for the
purpose of revitalizing her existing one.  The fact was, Parker Broadcasting
had not achieved growth forecast in the past two years and needed an infusion
of new technology, new ideas.  And then her COO told her about Rapid Films. 
New technology to the rescue.  Or so she’d thought.  Instead, she’d added
another woe to her already long list.

She picked up the phone.  “Tamara, can you arrange for coffee for
conference room C, please?”  With what she was about to face, Melanie had a
feeling she’d need that plus a shot of gin.

With a grimace she grabbed her laptop and headed for conference room
C. 

***

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Not the most polite greeting but Sloane didn’t give a damn.  Zena
had bullied both his receptionist and his personal assistant into letting her
through to his private office and, not wanting her to create a scene – which,
if she was like the Zena he used to know, she would very likely do – he’d
allowed it.

But now she was here, behind the closed door of his office, and
there was no longer any reason to feign courtesy.  “And what kind of stunt was
that you pulled on Sunday, showing up at Patrick’s house without warning? You
knew I was there, didn’t you?”

“Of course, darling,” Zena said in her best film star voice.  “I
called Marc and he told me I’d find you at Patrick’s.”

Son of a…Sloane clenched his fist.  He would have to exchange a few
choice words with Marc.  But that was for later.  Right now he had a witch in
his office, one who was certainly up to no good.  It was time to get rid of
her.

“Just state your business and then go.”  Still standing by his desk,
he folded his arms across his chest and scowled at her.

“My business, dear Sloane,” she said, her voice suspiciously sweet,
“is not so much with you as with your wife.”

Sloane’s jaw almost dropped.  He caught himself just in time.  “My
wife?  You don’t even know her.”

“Oh, but I do.”  Zena came farther into the office, her movements as
seductive as a cat, as she came to stand just a few feet away from Sloane.  “Everybody
knows Melanie Parker of Parker Broadcasting, heiress to a billion-dollar
empire.”

Sloane looked at her askance.  “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, my dear sweet Sloane, that I have you by the you know
what.”  She was even closer now, so close that Sloane could see a fleck of gold
in her eyes.  “You hurt me.  You walked out on me when I needed you most, and I
never forgot that.”

“I walked out on you?”  Sloane stared back at her, incredulous. 
“You were the one who defiled our relationship by cheating.”  The woman was
obviously deranged, living in a totally warped reality. 

“You could have forgiven me,” she said, her voice rising with her
anger.  “I was searching, trying to find myself.  That was all it was.  He
meant nothing to me, but you did.”

“Yeah, right.”  He regarded her with disgust.  “Not even a fool
without a brain would believe that.”

“Well, it’s true.”  Her nostrils flared and her chest rose and fell
with her agitated breathing.  “I had to talk to you, to explain, but you
refused all my calls.  You even had me thrown out of your office building. 
Well, after that, I was left with no other option but to hate you.  It was
either that or go mad.”

Sloane stared at her in disbelief.  “You left and went to Europe,
Zena. You started a new life, a damn successful one at that.  Are you telling
me that you’ve held on to your hatred of me all these years?”

“Yes,” she spat, “and all these years I’ve wanted to find a way to
get my revenge.  Touching you would be too easy.  Now you have someone in your
life who you loved enough to marry.  She’s my target.”

At her words a flash of panic went through him but, just as fast, it
turned to anger.  Fingers itching to reach out and grab her, he clenched his
hands at his sides.  “You are literally mad,” he said through gritted teeth. 
“You’ve been bearing a grudge for ten years for something you did, not me.  I
asked you to marry me, you fool.”

“Yes, and then you dumped me.”

“For good reason.”

“For something we could have worked out.”

Sloane raised his eyebrows at that and then he shook his head.  He’d
been one hundred percent right. The woman was off her rocker.  How could she
have stayed silent all these years, living a grand life as a movie star in
Europe, and then, as soon as he got married…

And then it dawned on him.  That was what had triggered this.  She
must have seen the announcement of the engagement and then the photos of the
wedding.  The paparazzi were everywhere.  The tabloids had had a field day with
both stories.  He wasn’t surprised at all that she’d found out.

The media attention on him must have brought the old grudge to the
fore and so she’d come back to torture him.  And he wasn’t going to believe
that cock-and-bull story about shooting a scene in Montreal.  Too much of a
coincidence.  No, she’d orchestrated the whole thing so that she could come
back and create havoc in his life.

“If you so much as harm one hair on-”

“Too late, honey,” Zena smirked.  “The deed is already done.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”  Sloane’s hands shot out. 
He grasped Zena by the upper arms and dragged her to within inches of his
face.  He wasn’t in the habit of manhandling women but this was not the time
for self control.  “What have you done to Melanie?”

Zena did not seem the least bit perturbed.  In fact, she curved
toward him, almost touching him, coming a whole lot closer than he wanted. 
“Don’t you worry,” she whispered as she leaned into him.  “You’ll find out soon
enough.”

With a growl of frustration Sloane pushed her away and walked back
around his desk to grab his cell phone.  When he looked up Zena was still
standing there.  “Get out of my face, Zena,” he said, his voice a chilling
whisper.  “You’ve said enough for today.  Now leave.”

The woman threw him a bitter laugh and then she backed away. 
“Throwing me out again, are you?  Well, this time I’ve got you where it
hurts.”  With that, she whirled around and flung the door open then marched
out, leaving it wide open behind her.

And Sloane could only stand there, holding the phone and staring
after her.

Now he knew first-hand what the saying meant – ‘Hell hath no fury
like a woman scorned’.

 CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Melanie was in the middle of her finance meeting when her cell phone
rang.  Annoyed at the interruption, she frowned then glanced at the screen. 
Sloane.  Immediately, her face cleared.

She put up a hand.  “Excuse me a minute, guys,” she said, giving her
team an apologetic smile.  “I have to take this call.”  They all nodded and
Melanie slipped out of the conference room and went to stand at the end of the
hall where she had a little more privacy.

“Hi, Sloane,” she said, keeping her voice low.  “Is everything all
right?”  It was unusual for him to call her in the middle of the day and the
fact that he had, caused her a twinge of worry.

“All’s good,” he said, his voice strangely wary, “but what about
you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, feeling slightly confused.  “Why?” And then
she knew.  Her face broke into a smile.  “Oh, you.  Naughty, naughty.  Come on,
it’s only eleven o’clock in the morning.  Couldn’t you at least wait until the
afternoon?”

There was a pause then Sloane let his breath out in a whoosh. 
“Thank God you’re all right.”

Melanie frowned.  “Of course I’m all right.  Why wouldn’t I be?  Sloane,
what’s going on?”

“I’m not sure.  I’ll talk to you when you get home tonight.  Just be
careful today, okay?"

“Okay,” she said, stretching out the word.  Sloane was acting really
weird.  She would have loved to question him further but she had a room full of
executives waiting for her.  “Uh, Sloane, I’ve got to go.  Talk to you later,
okay?”

“Okay,” he said, sounding like he wanted to say something more but
then he didn’t.

“Bye,” she said, and hung up.  And then she was heading back to her
meeting, forgetting all about her conversation with Sloane, caught up once
again in the drama that was unfolding in the conference room.  On the advice of
her chief operating officer she’d made a hasty decision in her effort inject
new life into the film division.  Instead of shoring up the business,
everything had hit the fan.  Now she would have to face the consequences.