The Billionaire's Bauble (20 page)

When the car finally stopped at David’s place, Sloane noticed an unfamiliar car in the driveway. A shiny convertible hovered like a dangerous black spider next to David’s sports car. It bothered her that she was so nervous, so wary all of a sudden. She steadied her legs before attempting to exit Tony and Maya’s car.

Tony held her arm, and sensing her caution, he pulled her along towards the cavernous entryway to David’s house. “I never knock,” Tony said as he opened the door and strode into the mansion’s entry hall and toward the drawing room.

Nothing could have prepared Sloane to see Lexi lying on a floral printed couch, reading a book, and sipping a glass of wine as if she owned the place.

“Tony, Maya, hello,” the blonde purred. “Who’s your friend?” she asked, eyeing Sloane, distaste written all over her cosmetic laden face.

“Lexi, where’s David?” Tony asked gruffly, walking right past her reclined form and toward the doors that led to the terrace. “Is he outside? David!” Tony called, not waiting to hear Lexi’s reply.

Sloane, frozen in place, as if at the portal of no return, stared at Lexi. The woman was gorgeous, of course, but her icy blue eyes held no warmth, only suspicion. Lexi knew about Sloane, probably knew she was looking at her now, but she played it cool. Lexi stood up, stretched nimbly, and said, “Can I get you something to drink? Veronica!” Lexi called for David’s housekeeper, and she appeared almost instantly.

“Please bring some refreshments for our guests,” Lexi demanded.

Our
? The word
made Sloane’s head swim.

“Where’s David?” Tony was back, and this time he was standing over Lexi.

“Tony you haven’t even said hello. Is that any way to treat an old friend?” Lexi whined, taking a step back from Tony’s obvious menace.

Before Tony could say another word, Maya inserted herself between Tony and Lexi.

“Hello, Lexi. We heard you were here. Why?”

Lexi took another step back and looked beyond Tony and Maya, directly at Sloane. “I’m here with David, of course,” she said, and her eyes bore into Sloane’s. “We’re enjoying getting reacquainted. How do you like the new look?” she swept her arm out as if she were presenting a showcase on a TV game show.

“The old look, you mean,” Maya said. “I’m gratified you followed through with our deal. David must be happy to have his mom’s things returned.”

“Oh, he was grateful, all right,” she said. “I wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t.” Lexi sat back down on the couch imperiously.

Sloane wanted to rip the slut’s hair out by its bleached roots, but she stood motionless, waiting for something to occur that made one lick of sense.

Sloane got right to the point, “Are you saying the two of you are back together?”

“We are together, yes,” Lexi said, “and who are you to ask or care?”

Sloane turned and walked back out the front doors. She heard Tony say, “Please, tell David we were here if it isn’t too much trouble.” Then he and Maya followed Sloane, and they got back into the limo, Tony muttering a few choice curse words under his breath.

Though it appeared to Sloane things had gone from bad to worse, Tony wasn’t giving up. He drove around to the rear of the house and went into the kitchen while Maya and Sloane waited in the car. They said nothing, but Maya rubbed Sloane’s knee.

“She’s really pretty and so tiny, too. I bet she and David look great together,” Sloane bemoaned.

Then it was Maya’s turn to cuss.

In less than a minute, Tony returned. “Veronica said David has been locked in his home office all day, but she’ll tell David we were here first chance she gets. Don’t worry, Ace. David will drop her like a hot potato once he hears you’re back in town.”

“I wasn’t trying to get him back anyway, not really. I just had to tell him something.”

“What is it?” Maya asked. Sloane admired her friend’s radar. “You can tell us. Maybe we can help.”

Sloane smiled sadly. “You two have done enough. If David wants to talk to me, he knows where I am.”

The rest of the ride to Sloane’s place was abysmally quiet. Just as they arrived back to Sloane’s apartment, Tony’s phone jangled. “It’s David,” he said, then turned away and answered.

Sloane slouched out of the car and kissed Maya’s cheek goodbye.

“I’m done for today, positively beat.” She walked away as Tony began speaking to David.

Sloane half-expected her friends to follow, but they must have sensed she couldn’t handle any more. Sloane’s head throbbed as if it were a bass drum. Exhaustion overtook her the minute she sat on her couch. She leaned her head onto a pillow and closed her tired, red-rimmed eyes.

Moments later her own phone rang. She saw David’s number on the screen, but she didn’t have the energy to answer. It could wait another day. Maybe it could wait even longer. She didn’t want to talk to him when she felt so fragile, so defeated, so close to tears; so she hit the ignore button on her phone, wearily rose to her swollen feet, locked her door, then went into her bedroom to lie down.

Her bed sheets felt too hot, too constricting, so she took off her pretty white dress, un-slung her arm, and took off her new, pink underwear. She silently cursed herself for buying all those bras and panties that were too expensive, too sexy, and now, too small for a pregnant woman. Before she could shed one tear, her heavy eyes closed.

“She said what?” David growled into the phone.

“Yep, she told Sloane that you and she were together. And the way she said it, it sounded more like, ‘We had sex all night long.’ Sloane was pissed, but she just walked out. That girl has class, David. Maybe too much. If it were Maya, Lexi would be bald. You better do something before you mess this whole thing up. And get that witch out while you’re at it. Damn, I’m glad she was lying. Never could stand her, you know.”

“Why did you bring Sloane here anyway?” David asked angrily. He paced his office like a caged beast.

“I tried calling, but you didn’t answer. Don’t blame me for trying to help your sorry butt,” Tony railed.

“I’m not blaming you. I just want to know what she said, what she wanted. Any clue?”

“Only that it was important enough to go to your house right away. Just call her, or better yet, show up at her apartment. Maybe you should stop at a jewelry store first.” Tony suggested.

“Sloane can’t be bought,” David declared.

“You
are
dumb, buddy. I mean, dense as a grizzly. You better propose, or you are out of the game. Out, do you hear me?” Tony hung up in David’s ear, and David looked at his phone as if it had grown wings or a long, curling tail.

He went downstairs and found Lexi stretched out on his mother’s couch. She smiled at him and patted the couch, indicating he should lie down with her. His blood boiled. He looked at her seductive pose, and spat, “Stop trying. You’ve worn out your welcome. Get out. Now.”

David knocked hard on Sloane’s apartment door. His pulse raced like he was picking up a date for the first time. Figuring she was asleep or in the shower, he used his super’s key to unlock her door and enter.

When he walked into the relative darkness of her bedroom, he saw her lying on the sheets, nude.

She lay on her back, her full, cream colored breasts, pointing heavenward and her legs slightly parted. He could see the slightly rounded plane of her tummy and the curling, dark hairs of her sex. He slowly drank in the vision before he took off all his clothes, carefully laying his suit beside her pink under things and white dress.

He approached the bed slowly, watching Sloane’s chest rise and fall steadily. He crawled into bed beside her and began nuzzling her warm neck. She rolled toward him and sleepily said, “David?”

“Who else would it be, sweetheart?” he asked, as he licked at her neck and then took her pliant chin in his hands.

“I thought I locked the door.”

“You did. I own the building now. I let myself in.”

“Mmmmmm,” she said languorously. “You
are
incorrigible.”

He kissed her lips slowly at first, then more passionately, drinking in the sweetness of her breath, the familiar feel of her mouth. David knew only one thing. He was home. Wherever Sloane was, he needed to be.

“David, I need to tell you something.”

“Me first,” he said, and he kissed her again before tearing his lips away to say, “Sloane, Lexi is gone. She lied, baby, she lied to you, and I’m sorry.”

“I knew she was lying. I knew you didn’t want her.”

David felt as if a boulder had been removed from his shoulders. His whole body relaxed in Sloane’s arms, in the rapture of her body next to his.

“I need you, Sloane,” he said, and he hoped she understood it wasn’t just physical.

She returned his words with a kiss, wrapping her tongue around his, and parting her legs so she could throw one long, firm limb over him, possessing him, claiming him for her own. He palmed her breasts, then pinched them gently, feeling her nipples begin to stiffen as he kissed her more fervently.

She tore her mouth from his, and exhaled powerfully as he moved his mouth lower to taste and tickle each of her tightly drawn peaks. As his tongue felt the beads grow hard, he murmured, “My Sloane. Mine.” David nibbled hungrily upon her, and she pushed his head down further. He lapped at her belly, then her inner thighs, and finally the honeyed strands of her feminine gate. He touched and licked her until she could stand no more, until she pulled his head back up to her ravenous mouth, and rolled over on top of him. Her hair covered her face and her breasts, and he pushed the glossy strands aside and saw her hunger.

When she put his erection inside her, he inhaled deeply, feeling all of her wanting all of him. She straddled him, and he pressed himself deeper and deeper inside her. She opened her eyes, and he saw them glisten, completely soft, half-lidded with passion. He stroked her insides slowly until she matched his rhythms, note for note, a symphony of emotions rolling over them. As their bodies moved faster, they rode the wave together, higher and higher until Sloane cried out a song of satisfaction.

David kissed her neck, murmuring, “Oh, my Sloane, my precious jewel.” Then he grabbed her rear, pushing harder and harder until he too felt ready to surrender.

When he came inside her, the heat of their union erupted like a volcano, burned down all his resistance, revealed to him the only thing that mattered in his life—Sloane. Her pleasure. Her needs. All David wanted, he held in his hands. Sloane moaned loudly, and he covered her mouth with torrid kisses until she gasped for air.

He held her tightly, rubbing her back, her buttocks until she was ready for him again. This time he got on top and watched her as he slid in and stayed. She sighed contentedly, and snuggled even closer into his chest.

“I will never let you go again,” he whispered. She looked up at him, putting her palms on either side of his face, locking eyes with him as intensely as their bodies cleaved. He finally recognized love. He finally understood love, and he needed her to believe him.

“I love you, only you. Do you trust me?” He could hear gruffness in his voice, and as she nodded assent, tightening her hold on him, they came again. As if floodgates opened, he rode the current to complete fulfillment. Looking into her ivy eyes, he felt as if the rest of the world dropped away, was obliterated by their mutual love. They were the only two people in the world that mattered.

“David,” she sighed, “I love you, too. We’re pregnant.”