ROMANCE: Bear Naked Passion (Billionaire Bear Trio Book 2) (31 page)

Chapter 6

Katherine couldn’t think – she couldn’t
breathe
. All she could think about was that night, when he cornered her and held a knife to her throat.

“Bet you didn’t expect to see me here,” he laughed. “Nor did I think to find some volunteer dressed so prettily. Or did you know that I was coming and wanted to dress appropriately for the funeral?”

Katherine gulped. “You can’t—”

“Oh, but I can,” he hissed, pulling her closer to poke her side with something. “Do you recognize it?” he asked, softly jabbing her again. He was holding something sharp, something that he was hiding in his coat pocket. “I almost cut your throat with it last time. So close, so close! But don’t worry,” he whispered, leaning in to her ear. “This time, I won’t miss.”

“Katherine?”

She jumped at the sound of Philip’s voice, jerking her head to look him in the eye. His confused face turned harsh as he saw her fear, and he glanced at the man standing so close to her.

“Excuse me, sir,” he said arrogantly, his voice betraying his distaste. “But I believe that you’re bothering my date.”

“She isn’t yours,” he sneered, looking at Philip while the knife’s edge made Katherine gasp as she felt it dig deep. “She’s
mine
.”

“That should be my line,” Katherine growled, using Philip as her distraction to elbow the Store Corner Robber in the jaw. A woman screamed, and Katherine noticed the crowd beginning to form around them. The man stumbled back with a grunt, his knife’s tip gone from her side. Philip acted fast, tackling the man as soon as he was away from Katherine.

“Phil, what…?”

It was Richard—he’d run over to see what all the commotion was about.

“Sir,” Katherine gasped, adrenaline pumping blood into her ears. “It’s him. It’s the Store Corner Robber.”

By the time that the Robber – finally identified as Mike Croft – was hauled into custody and Katherine was cleared to go home with a yellow blanket around her shoulders and a bandage over her cut, it was well past midnight.

“Go home, get some rest,” Richard said gruffly, patting her on the shoulder.

“I’ll take her,” Philip said, already reaching out a hand for her. She took it without protest, following him blindly to his awaiting limo.

“See that you do,” Richard grunted in agreement. “I’ll see you first thing Monday morning, Silver. You’ll no doubt have a medal waiting for you.”

The drive was quiet, though not for Philip’s lack of trying.

“What happened?” he asked quietly, pouring himself a drink. “I came back, and that man—”

“He moved to uptown,” she said, “To find me.” Looking up at Philip, she sighed, long and low, and added, “He couldn’t stand that he’d let a victim get away.”

“You’re not a victim,” Richard said angrily, putting the decanter away.

“I know,” she said simply.

The limo parked outside of her apartment building like it had the night before, but this time when she and Richard stepped out, it drove away. Before she could ask, Philip insisted, “I’m not leaving you alone tonight.” His tone left no room for an argument, and Katherine was too tired to try.

They stepped quickly up the stairs and into her apartment. Katherine uncoiled her wrap from around her shoulders and grabbed some extra blankets to dump onto the couch. It was a small, studio apartment, so apart from the bathroom nothing was divided by a wall or a door. Her bedroom, kitchen, and living space all sort of blended into one big space.

“You don’t really have to stay,” Katherine sighed as she went into the kitchen to put a pot of coffee on. She certainly wasn’t going to be going to sleep any time soon. “We’ve gone on our date, you can go now.”

“Why would I leave when I’ve finally got you?” Philip asked, and Katherine jumped from the hot breath on her neck. “Sorry,” he apologized. “You’ve been startled more than enough for today.” He started to walk away, but Katherine stopped him. She found that she liked his warmth at her back.

“Philip,” she said, catching his wrist. “Why did you invite me tonight?”

That just made him huff out a laugh. “Well, it wasn’t because I’d thought a mad man would try to sneak in and kill you.”

“I’m serious,” she said fiercely, dropping his arm.

Philip grabbed hers instead, and rubbed a thumb over her finger. “Because I find the woman who can beat me at my own game and resist an arrogant man’s charms utterly fascinating,” he said, staring into her eyes.

She rolled her eyes. “I said to be serious—”

“Oh,” he smirked. “I am.”

Katherine saw the kiss coming from a mile away. She saw him move closer for it, saw the look in his eyes, but she stayed still—an easy target for an eager man. When his lips sealed over hers it was harsher than she’d expected; it wasn’t the butter-soft kiss of a salary man but rather the determined caress of a fighter.

When she came up for air, it was to throw her arms around his neck and say, “Do that again.”

She wasn’t sure for how long they bit and licked at one another’s lips, diving and grinding, but after a while she felt herself lifted and dropped onto the couch. He didn’t give her a moment to consider how he’d managed to lift her before he was on her again, unzipping her dress and pulling it down to reveal her breasts. They were big, always had been at her size, and he stared at them like the heavens and earth had descended before him.

“God…” he breathed, seizing them with rough hands that made Katherine moan. It wasn’t long before he was biting them too, making Katherine fight back with a palm on his crotch.

“Philip,” she growled.

He didn’t have to be told twice.

Kicking off his pants, he tossed them onto the floor like they weren’t worth the fortune that he’d paid for them, though Katherine supposed that he probably had three more at home. Pushing up her tight dress to cling around her hips, he rubbed his fingers over her thong, raising a smug eyebrow in question.

“Oh, shut up,” she panted. “I only wore it because they don’t leave a panty line.”

“Right,” Philip smirked, haughty as he dipped two fingers under the fabric and found her folds. “You’re wet,” he said, surprised.

Katherine just rolled her eyes. “Sorry I’m not like all the virgins that you’ve had sacrificed—”

“No,” Philip chuckled. “I meant—never mind.” Shaking his head, he moved between her lips and prodded at her entrance, making her suck in a gasp. “So sensitive,” he muttered, his eyes downward on the task before him. “I love it.”

He fit the first finger inside hesitantly, but after a few pumps and Katherine’s legs locked at his back urging him to go faster, he added the second swiftly.

“I-I need…” Katherine panted, twisting beneath him as he curled his fingers.

“Oh, I know,” he said, drawing back. “I know,” he kissed her neck.

He entered her with a grunt and a hiss, sliding inside with ease as she focused on not clenching down. When he was in all the way he let out a content sigh, which just made her scowl. “Philip,” she whined, digging her heels into his back. Philip just laughed, and pulled back to thrust back in. “Yes,” she moaned. “Just like that.”

The feel of him inside of her, that thick presence going in and out, grinding and plunging—it was almost too much to take. She tried to hold on, to grip the collar of Philip’s shirt and kiss him roughly as a distraction, but it proved too much for her. She came with a gasp, stealing Philip’s breath as he followed her down to the couch and hungrily stole a dozen more kisses before he finished as well.

Panting with their chests heaving on the snug couch, Richard put a hand around Katherine’s hips. “So,” he cleared his throat. “Does this mean that I officially have permission to call you something other than Officer Silver?”

Katherine snorted. “Like you haven’t been calling me by my first name all day.” Turning her head toward him to kiss the base of his throat, she said, “But sure. Now you have permission.”

THE END

GO TO THE INDEX

The Billionaire’s Day Off

The Billionaire’s Day Off

Chapter 1

The weather in London was very much like the weather at home. In Seattle. It rained a lot. Or maybe it was just that time of year. Dalia was not very sure. All she knew was that this was the first time she had accompanied her boss on a work trip that she didn’t curse. She hugged her iPad as she stood in the hotel lobby looking at all the familiar faces in clean cut suits and couture dresses, smiling as they strutted along in their overpriced Manolo Blahnik and Louboutin heels. The men looked exceptional in the Italian leather shoes and on their wrists, perfect Audemars Piquet watches if not a shiny Rolex.

She was still standing there, feeling a little out of place when she finally spotted her boss. She rushed over and smiled as she approached him.

“Mr. Moody. Name tags and the itinerary for the day,” she said in a whisper.

“Dalia Hayes, how many times have I asked you to call me Kyle?” he asked. “Because Mr. Moody is my father…and my grandfather.”

Dalia smiled.

“I can call you Kyle at the office but out here, I need to give you the respect you deserve.”

Kyle looked at his nametag and sighed.

“I’m still trying to figure out why we need name tags at this event. I mean, it’s a conference for Fortune 50 CEOs and CFOs. It’s not like I can’t point out Richard Branson or Mark Zuckerberg.”

“Richard Branson is actually not in attendance,” Dalia pointed out, smiling.

“Well, he sent his second in command. A face I know all too well.”

“Well, name tags are part of the whole thing, Kyle,” she said, being sure to whisper his name so that no one around them heard her.

Her boss smiled and looked at her.

“I guess I better do as you ask, right?” he asked as he pinned his nametag onto his jacket.

“One, it’s part of the rules, and two, you have not kept me around for three years because I made poor judgment calls,” Dalia said and he smiled. His eyes ran down her body and then back up to look into his eyes. “What? What is it?” she asked as she looked at him. The way he was looking at her made her feel a little self-conscious. And this was not the first time he was doing it either. She had caught him giving her the same look a number of times. For a moment there, she felt as if she was making a million fashion mistakes. But who could blame her? She was a flea market and department store kind of girl and this place was full of people who shopped from runways in Milan and Paris.

“Am I not dressed right? I mean, I did go to that store you sent me to and everything…” she started and he shook his head. His eyes once again roamed over her body covered in a grey pencil mid-skirt that highlighted her biggest asset: her broad hips and a red silk round necked sleeveless top tucked into her skirt. She had matched her outfit with a pair of nude colored stiletto heels and her brunette hair was hanging loosely on her shoulders. It was not really her kind of outfit. She had only just begun dressing in skirts and heels. She used to be more of a pantsuit person, hiding her full figure underneath layers and layers of fabric, and it was only normal for her to feel unsure of herself.

And Kyle…he was seeing right through her. He could tell what she was feeling and the struggle she was having just being there.

“You look absolutely amazing, Dalia Rayne,” Kyle said in a lower voice than he expected.

A smile played on Dalia’s lips and a dimple appeared on her left cheek.

“Let’s just get in and take our seats already.” She began leading him to the hotel’s main conference room. “I don’t want to be stuck with the crappy seats at the back.”

Kyle shook his head and raised an eyebrow over the other.

“This is a business summit. Not an opera or a football game,” he said.

“Well, to be completely honest, you can get box seats at the opera and…well, you get the drift.”

“And?” Kyle asked, still not getting what she was trying to say.

“And? What do you mean ‘and’? You are literally in the wild out here with everyone claiming to be the alpha male…so there is of course the whole survival for the fittest out here.”

Without even realizing it, she was walking faster and Kyle was trying to keep up, which was usually a situation that happened the other way round.

“Whoa there…slow down,” Kyle said as they approached the conference room. “Somehow it feels like you are more excited about something else here.”

Dalia smiled and shrugged.

“The presentation by Finch and Lindgren which is supposed to be the first thing on the program.”

“The robotics geeks?” Kyle asked and Dalia nodded a little too excitedly.

“They have the latest technology in prosthetics that kind of makes me hopeful that the stuff I watched on
Extant
is almost here.”

Kyle shrugged and shook his head.

“Prosthetics? Really?” He ran his fingers through his thick hair. “Since when were you so keen on prosthetics?”

“Since my cousin lost his leg in the war. I’m always…the whole family is always out looking for different ways to make everything better for him.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow, obviously surprised.

“You have a cousin that’s a vet?” he asked, a little confused and stunned. Dalia nodded as they approached the conference door.

“Working for Uncle Sam is like the family business. Only a handful of us have chosen alternative careers…white collar and everything.”

“So your father…” he started and she nodded.

“And my two brothers and my grandfather, my cousins…you get where I am going with this, right?” she asked and he nodded.

They walked up to their seats and sat down. He looked at her as she placed her iPad on her lap.

“So your cousin,” he started. “The one who got you interested in prosthesis and everything.”

“He was supposed to be a double amputee but the doctors happened to work something out and saved his one leg but the other one was completely totaled. It was just…” her voice trailed off and almost immediately, he knew that he had hit a sore spot.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you recount a painful past or anything,” he said as he opened the door for her. She forced a smile and shrugged.

“Hey, it’s life, yeah?”

He shook his head.

“I can’t believe I have never known that about you and after three years to make it worse,” he said.

“Well, you are a busy man. I wouldn’t want to hold that against you.”

“Maybe you should,” he said in a whisper as he looked at her. He was looking into her eyes so intensely that she could feel a chill run down her spine. She didn’t know exactly what it was but whatever it was, she could tell that it spoke louder than the whole boss secretary thing. There was more to the look. There was more to the way he spoke but he just couldn’t put his finger on it…whatever it was. “Maybe I should pay more attention to the people who matter to me.”

Dalia felt her heart skip a beat.

People who matter to him, he had said.

Did that mean that she was one of those people? She wanted to just take his word for what it was and just assume that she did. But that had not always worked so well for her. Assuming was one of the things she had sworn she wouldn’t do…ever. She needed to know what he meant. Not that it changed anything between them but she did need to know.

“People who matter to you?” she asked and he nodded.

“People who matter to me,” he echoed just as the conference lights were dimmed. Dalia turned her attention to the front where a small blonde woman was walking towards the podium. At the back of her mind, she was wondering just what he had in mind when he said what he did. It was not that she was emotionally unavailable or anything. It was just that, this was Kyle Moody. Her boss. Her very attractive boss she should have said. He was everything any woman wanted in a man. Tall, lean and muscular. His full head of dark hair always seemed to be perfectly in place. It was almost like he had a glam squad that kept him looking sharp every minute of every day. She never had much time to look into his eyes but the few times she had she had noticed them. Perfectly green eyes that seemed to look right into your soul. But it was Kyle Moody.

Kyle freaking Moody.

There was no way she could ever envision a future with him. He was the kind of man to be seen around the so-called socialites and she was, well, the help. That was all she ever was to a man like Kyle Moody.

“Ladies and gentlemen if you would please take your seats. We are about to begin,” the lady said in a somewhat sexy British accent. “Finch and Lindgren on cue to begin their presentation.”

Dalia turned to look at the lady but Kyle was still looking at her. She could feel it. The piercing look that was almost unveiling her, somewhat even undressing her. A smile played on her lips and she began feeling a little more comfortable when she saw the familiar faces of Rudolph finch and Bjorn Lindgren. She had expected them to send a representative to handle the presentation but obviously this was a big enough deal for them to show up in person.

“I would have expected them to send someone down here,” Kyle said.

“I was thinking the same thing.”

Dalia bit her lower lip and waited excitedly for them to begin but they had barely began when the entire room suddenly went dark.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm as we sort out the power in the conference room,” the lady with the sexy British accent said as dim emergency lights lit up the room. Dalia could not help but notice that the conference room looked almost romantic.

“What’s going on?” Dalia whispered.

“There must be something wrong with the power supply but the back-up generator should kick in at any time now,” Kyle assured her.

“Hopefully. I am literally dying in anticipation here.”

Kyle smiled.

“You are really excited about these guys, huh?” he asked and she nodded.

“I haven’t been this excited about anything since I found out Roger Miller was coming to my fifteenth birthday party.”

Kyle looked at her and smiled.

“Roger Miller?” he asked and she sighed in an almost dreamy voice.

“He was only the most popular guy in my grade…actually the whole of junior high worshipped him. He was like the big kahuna in school being the state’s best and youngest swimmer.”

“Was there any reason he would have missed out on your party?” Kyle asked.

“Well, like I said, he was the big kahuna and I was just…a math and science geek.”

“A geek? You mean glasses and everything?” he asked, smiling goofily.

“Yup. The whole nine yards.”

“I’m sorry but I am having a hard time picturing you as a geek. I mean you are this perfect…” he was still talking when the British woman spoke again.

“My sincere apologies everyone but it seems like our power issues might be a little more complicated than we thought of. So, I’m afraid we will have to reschedule everything.”

“What?” Dalia muttered under her breath.

“Don’t worry. It is a week-long conference. I’m sure they have a plan B for Finch and Lindgren’s presentation,” Kyle said. “Somehow I have a feeling that is the only thing you are sad about.”

Dalia shrugged as he stood up and presented his hand to her.

“Come on.”

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Well, our schedule just got clear and this is the perfect excuse to see what London has to offer.”

“It’s raining outside,” she pointed out and he shook his head.

“No. It
was
raining. Now it’s just cold.”

She stood up and placed her hand in his. She could not help but feel a rush of adrenaline as he felt his warm skin against hers.

                                                                      *****

For a long time as Dalia and Kyle walked hand in hand, she was not very sure what she was supposed to do or say. She had never really been this close to him before and at the back of her mind she kept on wondering what the big idea was. Her heart was racing, a little too much. But the more time she spent with him, the more relaxed she felt around him. By the time they finally walked into a restaurant, Dalia realized that she had more in common with her boss than she initially thought. When he told her that he would be taking her round London, she had not really expected him to take her to some of her favorite spots.

The London eye. Museum of natural history. Tower Bridge. And her absolute favorite: the London dungeon.

“I would have pictured you as a Hilton kind of person,” she said as she looked around the Vietnamese restaurant they were in.

Kyle smiled and nodded.

“I can imagine that’s what the entire world thinks about me.”

“Well, do you blame them? You are the founder and CEO of a multi-billion dollar empire. It’s only normal if people make such an assumption.”

Kyle smiled as he rubbed his temple.

“Actually, I started out way lower…”

She smiled as the waiter brought them their menus.