The Billionaire's Secret: A BWWM Romance Mystery (12 page)

He moved back over me and gripped the
knot at my breastbone. Lifting my ass to meet him halfway, he pressed himself
just inside.

I moaned and squirmed, wanting all of
him. I was so wet. I could feel the slippery slide down my thighs.

But when he pressed his thumb to my
clit, my eyes flew open and I gasped.

"That's what I want to see,"
he growled and then thrust himself roughly inside. "My greedy girl."

He grabbed the knot tighter. Using it
as leverage, all of a sudden he was
fucking
me. Deep and hard, each thrust as punishing and all consuming as he could make
it. I could feel the power behind each stroke, the coiled up animal inside of
him.

I was crying out each time he fucked
into me. Over and over he slammed inside, overwhelming me with his thumb still
on my clit.

"Wait," he ordered me as I
felt myself start to shatter. "You come when I come. We're coming
together."

He bent over me, burying his face in
my neck and the anguish in his voice was almost like begging. "Wait for
me."

I threw my free arms around his neck
and clung to his back. He undulated his hips and his whole body went stiff.
"Now, baby. Come right now."

I screamed as he pulled me into him.
His hand on the knot, the other on my ass, he fucked me so deep I knew I would
never feel full again.

Liam jerked over me, groaned my name
into my neck. I felt him twitch inside of me, or maybe it was me twitching
around him. I didn't know. I wasn't sure where he ended and I began anymore.

 
Chapter Twenty - Three

"You should stay the
night."

I jerked awake, heart pounding. Liam
caught me tight, and I suddenly remembered everything. "Did I fall
asleep?" I groaned, wiping the drool away from my mouth.

He chuckled softly. I was covered up,
in a soft, cloudlike comforter. The huge windows were dark now and outside the
lights of the city twinkled below us. "You were exhausted," he said
in that thick whisper of his. "Or maybe you passed out?" He sounded a
little proud.

Sex with Tre, what I allow myself to
remember anyway, was workman like. We followed steps through their logical
progression and if nothing happened to me, well...at least we tried, hmm?

I had had more orgasms in the past twenty-four
hours than in the entirety of my year and a half long disaster of a marriage.
Liam had every right to sound proud.

I rolled to face him. "And you?
Not tired at all after that?"

His eyes softened and the dimple
appeared. "I may have...dozed." He touched my lips. "That
was...intense."

His eyes were asking me
was it as intense for you?

I kissed him. Yes. It was. Something
had changed. Shifted between us. I snuggled down into his arms and the knot
slid across my chest.

"I need to untie you," Lam
said. He sounded disappointed. "I don't want you to get hurt."

He rolled me gently onto my back.
"This is harder to untangle than I thought," he teased, staring at
the knot. "I was in the zone."

"You can leave me like
this," I told him.

His eyes blazed. "Don't tempt
me." He shook his head. "Fuck, that's a nice thought."

It was a nice thought for me too, but
if I let him keep me tied, I would never have the sweetness of the untying. He
loosened the bonds, kissing away the sting, and massaging the marks from my
skin. When he finally let the rope slid from the bed, I realized I was crying
and I wasn't exactly sure why.

"Hey," he said, pulling me
close. "It was good for me too, Shay. You were so good."

"I'm not," I sniffled,
"even sure why I'm crying."

"I'm right here," he said.

"It was a shit day until now,"
I said into his chest.

"You said that. Anything I can
do to help?"

The worries that had followed me to
his place, lurking in the shadows but held at bay by his ropes, suddenly
latched themselves onto me again. Once he untied me, I was no longer shielded
from their assault. "It's just...," I looked around at the huge,
designer apartment and wondered how I could even begin to explain being broke.
"Money troubles."

He turned me to face him. "Full
truth, Shay. You said it yourself. Don't tell me half the story."

I chuckled grimly. He had me there.
"The landlord just upped the rent at the shop. Until they can secure a
line of credit, they can't pay me." I blushed hard, shame traveling all
the way down to my toes. "And I have a bill, an important one, that's past
due."

He raised his eyebrows. Waiting. For
the whole truth. "My lawyer." I waggled my naked ring finger.
"My divorce lawyer."

He grabbed my hand immediately.
"Shay, I'll pay your lawyer."

I shook my head. "I can't let
you do that."

"You're not
letting
me, I want to. Besides, you've
let
me do a whole bunch of other things to you...for you," he
grinned wickedly. "Money is something I have a lot of. Beautiful women who
let me tie them up are much rarer. Let me do this." He smoothed my
forehead. "I don't want worry lines marking up that perfect face.

He wasn't going to let me say no. I knew
this. His eyes blazed just like they did in the bedroom. "Okay,
Liam," I said, and as soon as I said it I felt the weight lifted off my
shoulders. "Okay."

Chapter
Twenty - Four

I walked out into the front of Liam's
apartment. Mysterious Darius hadn't brought the car around yet. It felt strange
to be driven. I felt like it would be faster to walk through the traffic
snarled streets of Center City. But Liam was insistent.

As I stood there, a tricked out SUV
slowed down in front of me. "Hey chocolate mama, you look cold, need me to
warm you up?"

"What the fuck do they
want?"

I didn't hear Liam come up behind me,
but in an instant his hand in on my shoulder. Claiming me. Protecting me. Maybe
because we had been spending so much time horizontal, but it surprised me all
over again how tall he was. I was tall, but he was even taller, and he loomed
over me possessively until the SUV rolled passed.

"They would have no idea what to
do with you," he rumbled, with a hint of pride in his voice. And hunger.
"What you need."

A warm deliciousness spread through
me at the protectiveness in his voice. No one, not Tre, not even my father
would have stood up to those catcallers. Both would have rushed me inside,
blaming me for catching their attention in the first place. "No," I
said, reaching upward for a kiss. "They wouldn't."

He kissed me long and deep.
"This'll have to last me," he groaned. The black car rolled up and I
could see Darius's scowling face inside.

"Have a good day," I told
him. When he walked away, I felt like a piece of me walked with him.

"Good morning, Darius," I
said brightly as he held open the door for me. I was proud I didn't slip up and
call him Mysterious Darius to his face.

His scowl remained. "Good
morning, Shay."

I sat down, momentarily dejected as
he walked around the front of the car and slid into the seat.

No, I had too good of a night last
night for him to ruin it with his surliness. "How are you this
morning?" I called from the back seat.

He grunted as he pulled into traffic.
"Can't complain," he glowered.

"Sure you can!" I smiled.
"Tell me something that bugs you. Anything."

A yellow cab rolled up almost to our
bumper and laid on its horn. "Cabbies," Darius rumbled. "Cabbies
bug me."

I laughed nervously. "So, Liam
tells me you've been working for him for as long as he can remember. How long
is that, exactly?"

He made a growling noise, like a dog
warning off someone from stealing his bone. "Don't really recall."

"Well, how old was Liam?"

"A baby."

I sat back for a second. Liam was
twenty-four. He'd worked for them that long? "A baby?" I echoed.

"Baby, kid, something like
that."

"You really don't know for
sure?"

Darius looked over his shoulder as he
was changing lanes. "No ma'am, I actually do know. To the day. But it's
not something I feel comfortable sharing." He gunned the engine, cutting
off a SEPTA bus in the process. "Here you are, Shay," he glowered,
throwing the car in park. "I'd get out, but I'm in a bus zone."

"Ah, okay, sure, I'm capable of
opening my own door." I slid across the seat and pushed the heavy door
open with a slight grunt. "Have a good day?" I called, pushing the
door closed.

He peeled out before it even had time
to latch, leaving me standing confused on the sidewalk.

*****

"Maybe he's working deep
undercover," Kit ventured after I told him the story of my ride with
Mysterious Darius. "Or he's in witness protection and can't talk about his
past."

"Something like that," I
nodded dispiritedly. "And you know what the worst part is?"

"It means something and you
can't figure out what it is?" Kit deadpanned.

I threw a pen at him. "Well of
course, that goes without saying. But beyond that, he just straight up doesn't
like me and I have no idea why."

"You represent a security
risk," Kit said immediately. "You want know about Liam's past, you're
in his life, you're asking questions...."

I shot a look at him. "Damn,
Kit. I think you might not be too far off on that one. He definitely doesn't
like me getting close to Liam. It's like he's afraid I'm going to find
something out."

"Dun dun DUN dun Darius! Mysterious
Darius!" Kit sang his theme song in minor key, waggling his thick fingers
spookily. "If you suddenly disappear, I'll find you, lover, don't you
fret."

"Gee thanks," I laughed.
"You've set me completely at ease.

Kit looked at me suspiciously.
"I think that might be the first time you've ever lied to me, Shay,"
he nodded. "Well done."

Chapter
Twenty - Five

When forty degrees feels balmy, you
know it's been a rough winter.

I stopped three blocks from Jasmine's
place and unzipped my jacket with a flourish. The weak winter sun hadn't yet
slipped behind the tall buildings. It was setting later.

There was no mistaking it, spring was
on its way...eventually.
 

Liam had texted me five minutes
before I locked up Young's. "I'm taking you to dinner tonight. We're going
on a damned date."

"How fancy should I dress?"
I texted back.

"Don't care. You look best naked
anyway," he replied immediately.

"I'll wear my best rope for the
occasion," I typed, grinning from ear to ear.

"Holy fuck, I might love
you," he replied.

I wasn't going to second guess it. I
wasn't even going to ask him to clarify.
He
"might" love me?

Might I love him too?

My heart banged in my chest as I
hurried back to Jasmine's and rummaged through my suitcases until I found a
skirt left over from my corporate days. It was slightly wrinkled, but it would
have to do.

I pinned my hair back in a twist,
slicking down the curls as best as I could. I curled and mascara-ed my lashes,
then smoothed on some gray, kohl shadow, winging out the edges. The change in
weather had me feeling frisky, so I blended in some creamy coral blusher and dug
through Jasmine's makeup case, testing lip colors until I finally settled on a
vibrant orangey red.

There. The woman Liam Graves might
love smiled back at me in the mirror and she looked gooood.

If the bathroom mirror wasn't enough
confirmation, the way Liam looked at me as I stood on the sidewalk was even
further proof that I looked as good as I felt. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed
him right there on the sidewalk.

"Everyone at Vetri is going to
be jealous of my date," he murmured into my throat. "All those eyes
on you, I'm not sure I like the idea."

"Are you being possessive?"

He pulled back and touched my bright
red lips. "I don't think anyone could blame me."

I grinned. "Well I'm yours, so
don't worry about it," I soothed as he helped me into the car.

"You've got it backwards,"
he clarified. "I think I'm the one who belongs to you."

The words were right there on the tip
of my tongue, ready to leap out into the world.
I love you. Holy shit, I love you.
I had to press my lips together
tightly to keep them inside, but the full feeling inside of my chest made it
hard to breathe.

I was so damn happy my heart hurt.

Liam slid back into the seat with me
and laid his hand possessively on my thigh. "All set, Darius," he
called to the front.

I leaned into Liam's shoulder,
nuzzling him, just enjoying the way he smelled.

His phone buzzed.

He pulled back and shot me an
apologetic grin. "You know, I'm really starting to hate that thing,"
I told him as he pulled it from his pocket."

His eyebrows knitted together.
"It's Dahlia. I'm so sorry." He held it up to his ear.
"Yeah," he grumbled.

I leaned away from him, trying not to
eavesdrop, but failing. I caught snatches of her voice, the voice of the woman
I had never met but who loomed so large in my relationship, larger even than
the mysterious Lily herself.

I started listening in earnest. Fuck
it, my curiosity was going to kill me.

"I have plans, Dahlia,"
Liam growled. I shot him a fearful look. He sounded close to murder.

"...don't care...your terms,"
her voice was tinny through the speaker but I could hear the contempt.

"Dahlia...," he held the
phone away from his ear. "Fuck you too," he growled and hung up the
phone.

I shrank back further. His entire
body was radiating pure, vengeful fury. The hatred was coming off in waves. I
felt sick to my stomach.

"Can I help?" I ventured.

He snapped his gaze to me like he had
forgotten I was there. Gradually the fury left his smoldering eyes and he
unclenched his fists.

"Fuck," he exhaled.

"Are you okay?"

He let out a grim chuckle. "Not
even close."

I slid closer. "Can I
help?" I asked again.

He paused and leaned forward, resting
his elbows on his knees. He froze there like Rodin's The Thinker for several
moments before he nodded, then nodded again. "You can, actually."

"Tell me how."

He chuckled darkly. "I can't
believe I am even going to ask you this, but will you come with me into the
lion's den?"

"What?"

He leaned back. "I've been
summoned to appear before Dahlia Graves."