The Billionaire's Secret: A BWWM Romance Mystery (22 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Sanniyah

He is
standing and waiting for me on the helipad, the casual ease of his linen shirt
and khakis gone. Instead he is wearing the hell out of a suit. It's crisply
tailored, hugging close to his body
. A
suit is lingerie for men
, I think wildly, and suddenly the saying makes
sense. Instead of detracting from his body, it adds to it.

 
His hair is gelled back, showing off the
strong bones of his forehead and temple. A small bit of tension pulses there
and I have to restrain myself from smoothing it away. Instead I clasp my
shaking hands behind my back, a trick I learned long ago, and I smile at him
eagerly, thinking of the promise of his text. "
I should have kissed you
," he wrote.

But now
that I am here within kissing distance, he is standing stock still. My hands
flutter at my sides. I can feel my lips straining towards his as I stand in
front of him, and I forcibly tuck my chin back down. What the hell is he
waiting for?

He
looks down at my outfit. "You look wonderful," he says, stiffly,
formally. I feel like he is reading from a script.

I look
down, I am still wearing the simple black dress I always wear to weddings. It
helps me fade into the background, but with him I feel completely on display.
"I was working," I hedge. There is an energy between us that is so
strong the air is practically crackling. I feel like I am about to jump out of
my skin, how can he stand there making small talk like this?

"Me
too," he nods. "The burdens of being self-employed. You don't really
get to keep normal hours, do you?" He chuckles nervously.

What the hell is happening here? Stop
making small talk and kiss me!

"No,
I guess not," I smile, ever professional. If frustration was visible, it
would be rising off of me in green, noxious waves.

Carter
blinks and looks around over my head. His stance reminds me of a trapped
animal, looking for an escape. There is a palpable fear about him, and I find
myself looking around as well. There is no one on the helipad but us. I see it,
and I think he must see it too, because he visibly relaxes. The tension drains
from his face, and when he looks down again, I am startled to see naked hunger
in his deep blue eyes.

 
He holds out his hand. I take it,
expecting him to help me into the helicopter.

Instead
he yanks me to him and presses his whole body flush against mine. His fingers
snake around the back of my neck, holding me firm. "I should have done
this last night," he murmurs, his lips brushing against my forehead as he
speaks. "I shouldn't have let you leave without kissing you goodbye."
He tilts my chin upward. "I guess I'll settle for kissing you hello."

I gasp,
parting my lips, just as the warmth of his mouth covering mine makes me gasp
again. His kiss is slow and searching, taking his time teasing me so that when
his tongue finally meets mine, I almost swoon with relief.

Carter's
lips are soft, softer then I could have ever imagined, and he uses them with
incredible skill. His huge hand is holding me in place, gently but firmly, the
better to own my mouth with his tongue. I can taste him, the essence of him,
sweet and earthy, as his tongue slides around mine in an intricate dance that
has me moaning before I realize the noise I hear is coming from my own mouth.

When he
breaks the kiss, I hear myself make a tiny noise of frustration and he laughs a
little. "Hello, Sanniyah," he says. His words are polite, but his
voice is ragged, gravelly. As my body brushes against his, I can feel his
desire pressing against me. The flood of wetness that surges down inside of me
is so violent that it leaves me feeling weak.

"Hello...Carter,"
I gasp.

"Would
you like to have dinner with me, tonight?"

I can't
even understand why he is asking, I am already halfway into his helicopter.
"Yes, I would very much," I say, then pause. "I thought that was
pretty clear from the kiss."

He
darts a look over my shoulder again. "Then let's get going." He
brushes his hand down my back, resting it on my ass for a moment before giving
me a boost into the helicopter. It's such a possessive gesture that I blush
instantly, and then all the harder when I feel how wet it makes me.

The
instant the pilot closes the door, Carter is on me again. The lurch of takeoff
has us tumbling into each other. The earth falls away beneath us and the ocean
rises, glittering in the last vestiges of sunset as he clasps me to him,
crushing me into his chest and twining his fingers into my hair. The searing
heat of his lips on mine is all the hotter when he trails them down my neck to
pepper my throat with tiny, sucking kisses. "Fuck," he growls.
"I thought I had fucked everything up with you last night.
 
God your skin is incredible, I could
just devour you, Sanniyah." He looks back up again, his eyes darting
across my face, a wicked smile playing on his lips. "That gives me an
idea." He deliberately places his hand on my naked thigh, brushing upward
to gauge my reaction. I bite my lip as a million objections dash through my brain.
We just met, I barely know you, I'm a
professional,
but my body answers for me, spreading my legs wider so that
his hand slips easily between my thighs.

Maybe
it didn’t make sense to go on, but it sure as hell seemed like the right thing
to do. Carter made the stress in my life melt away. I could pretend there
weren’t a million tiny problems pinning me down. There were no expectations or
rules.

"Oh
my god, you're so wet," he snarls into my neck. "I love how wet you
are for me...."

"I
never would have guessed you were so dirty, Carter," I pant into his hair.
" I feel like I am seeing two different Carter Eastons.
 
He switches from cool and reserved to
hot and hungry so quickly that I cannot keep track of who I am with.

"How
dirty do you want me to be, Sanniyah?"

I moan
slightly. I don't know. My sex life resembles my personal life; coolly
professional and only interested in results. The few lovers I've had have
amounted to nothing more than a means to an end. A quick fuck to scratch the
itch and then long stretches of solitude. "I'll tell you when to
stop," I say.

"When
I'm done with you, you're going to be begging for more." He says it and I
know he's not just boasting. It's a promise.

Chapter Fourteen

Carter

There
are no paparazzi hiding in the bushes. No reporters with telephoto lenses
nudging their way into my private moment.

Once I
know that for sure, I can let down my guard.

I can
tell Sanniyah is taken aback, but any attempts I might have made to explain why
I am acting strangely are lost to me the minute her lips touch mine.
 

The
minute her lips touch mine, I am a man possessed.

I knew
they would be soft. I knew she would taste sweet. I knew all of this
instinctually, just like I knew her moans would drive me insane. The moment I
hear her let loose and sigh against me, I knew I had to make her make that
sound again and again and again.

The
good thing about Benson is that he doesn't let anything distract him from his
job. He flies the helicopter and doesn't look back into the cabin at all. But I
think he knows what I am doing, because the ride out to Annika is taking a lot
longer than it normally should. I feel a slight shift under me as we bank and I
realize he is circling.

Good
man. I need to give him a raise.

Sanniyah's
eyes are wide and bright, and her breath is coming in shallow, heaving gasps
that do amazing things to her perfect, caramel colored tits. They are teasing
me, hidden away as they are underneath that no-nonsense black dress. I mean to
have that dress lying in a puddle on the helicopter floor in a second. My
fingers itch to shove her panties aside and let my tongue dance into her
wetness.

But
then Sanniyah groans, arching herself away from me. The shining hunger leaves
her eyes and she blinks like she is awakening from a drugged sleep.
"Carter..." she says, and her voice is an apology.

I
swallow back a rush of frustrated desire. "Are you okay?" I ask
instead.

"The
pilot," she whispers, darting her eyes towards Benson.

I sigh
and pull back, plopping next to her. She doesn't know Benson like I do. He's
been approached at least a million times by the tabloids to sell his stories
and every time he comes directly to me. The man is loyal to a fault, even
though their offers keep getting more and more lucrative. I match their offers
every time. Loyalty is one thing, but cold hard cash is an even more effective
way to buy silence. "I can wait," I tell her instead. "I don't
plan on rushing, tonight."

Sanniyah
smiles softly and it is so damn beautiful I feel my heart stop. "I thought
you don't plan, period," she says.

"Ah,
you were listening?"

"I'm
really good at it. Part of the job and all."

"Well
how about this." I lean in, brushing an escaped strand of hair behind her
ear and bringing my lips close to it. She shivers and I swear it sends a
shockwave directly to my groin. I want to make her do that again too.
"Listen to what I'm saying. Are you listening?"

She
nods, and bites her lip.

"Tonight
I'm going to feed you dinner. Watch you eat. And then?"

I pause
deliberately, unable to finish my sentence. I can see her heart beating rapidly
under her skin. I am as hard as a diamond.

"And
then?" she prompts.

"Still
listening?"

"Yes."

"I'm
going to watch you eat. And then I'm going to watch your face while I eat you."

She
flushes over her whole body, her caramel skin suddenly scalding to the touch. I
can see her squirming and I know the idea appeals to her. I make a mental note
to send my sister an extravagant gift for having the good sense to hire
Sanniyah Jones to plan her wedding.

She
squirms again. "I wasn't...I wasn't sure...that you..." she clears
her throat and looks me in the eye again. "Let me try that again,"
she says, tossing her head, and my mind is filled with thoughts of how her neck
tastes. "I wasn't sure you liked me, Carter. You were so...formal."

"Ah."
I lean back. Benson is slowing as we hover over Annika Island before our
descent. I am almost in my safe haven. My thoughts are consumed with Sanniyah
and the image of her naked body spread out before me. I swallow, hard, then
laugh lightly. "I guess I'm old-fashioned."

She
laughs loudly. "Hardly." Her hand rests on my thigh. "You don't
strike me as a gentleman."

I place
my hand over my heart. "Why, I'm insulted," I feign shock, then grab
her hand and deliberately move it up my leg. She is laughing and blushing in an
instant and I am saved from having to explain my paranoia. She doesn't need to
know that I am crazy. She doesn't need to know she is dealing with a broken
man.

Chapter Fifteen

Sanniyah

This
strawberry torte is divine.

This
wine is entirely too drinkable.

It is
just us, on the deck above the bay. The waves are shushing against the shore
like they want the whole world to quiet down so we can be alone. There is no
noise except the clink and scrape of my fork as I try to gather every last
delicious morsel.
 
I take another
sip of the wine, letting the nectar slip like honey down my throat, and I watch
Carter watch the ocean.

He is
gorgeous. I'm half drunk on the wine and completely drunk on him.

He sets
his plate down on the table between us and points to where he was looking.
 
"Down there, right? Right on the
beach?"

I lean
forward, uncertain of what he means until it clicks that he is talking about
Camilla's wedding. I banish the lascivious thoughts of what he could have meant
and nod.

"That's
what I pictured the minute I first came here," I agree. "The weather
in October should be perfect."

"What
do you think of decorations?" he asks me, cocking an eyebrow.

I lean
back in my deck chair and consider as I balance the dessert plate on my lap.
"You really don't need much," I say. "The surroundings are
enough."

"I
was imagining fairy lights in the trees," Carter says

I press
my lips together. "Fairy lights are a little...cliche," I tell him,
"I mean, in my professional opinion." I lick the last few crumbs of
the strawberry torte off my fork. Carter's is watching me, the heat of his gaze
threatening to set me ablaze.

"Your
professional opinion?" he echoes, with his eyebrows raised.

There
it is, that hunger again. I see it in his eyes, dimly lit by the dancing
torchlight and I am instantly on fire.

"Yes,"
I say primly, arching my back like I am stretching. His eyes go right to my
breasts. "Professional." I set my plate down firmly.

"I
think I've had enough of
professiona
l
for one evening," he growls. His eyes move up to my lips and rest there,
blatantly. He watches them, and I see him bit his own lip in reply.
 
"Remember what I told you in the
helicopter?"

I am
panting in an instant. "Yes," I answer.

"You
were listening?"

"Yes."

"Tell
me what I said."

"You
said," I swallow hard. "You said you were going to watch me
eat."

"And
then?"

I gulp.
"And then you were going to eat me," I whisper.

"Sanniyah?"

"Yes,
Carter?"

"I
hope you are done eating."

My
voice fails me. I can only nod as he deliberately sets his plate down and steps
across the space between us. He crouches right in front of me, his thighs
straining against the fabric of his trousers, filling up the entire field of my
vision. He is
right there.

I am
waiting. I know his kisses, my whole body remembers everything down to the
slightest detail. I want him to kiss me like that again, for his lips to keep
the promise his eyes are making, but instead of bringing his lips to mine, he
brings his fingers up.

His
thumb swipes across my lower lip, pressing in. "So soft," he murmurs,
his voice husky. He cups my chin and tilts my head upward, lifting us both to
our feet.

I know
for certain that he's going to kiss me now, so I close my eyes, waiting.

But he
doesn't kiss me. Instead his thumb sinks in between my teeth.

 
It's so possessive, so cocky that I want
to bite him. But the thrill of his skin on my lips is too much, and like a
reflex I close them around his thumb tightly. I hear him hiss a soft curse, and
then his other hand is around the back of my neck. Swiping the pad of his thumb
along my teeth, he lets it slide in deeper.

I raise
my eyes and look at him. His whole body is focused on me, waiting to see my
response. He is holding me firm, but somehow I know I have all the power here.

I wrap
my lips tightly around his thumb then and when I am sure he is watching me
raptly, I suck on it, lightly running my tongue around it before biting down
gently with my teeth. I taste a few crumbs of torte and the salt of his skin
and it is all I can do to keep from moaning.

Carter
growls a low sound and pulls me flush against him. We are pressed together, my
breasts mashed into the front of his shirt, the buttons digging into my skin.
We stand there like that for a moment, and I can feel his heart racing in his
chest. My breath quickens.

And
then his lips are finally on mine. Warm and soft, yet rigid and demanding, he
devours my mouth, parting my lips with a rough stab of his tongue to invade the
space where his thumb just was. His hands smooth down the length of my body,
cupping my ass to press himself firmly against me. I can feel the entirety of
his desire.

"Sanniyah,"
he breathes my name.

"Yes?
Yes!" I am answering him, and also telling him.
Yes, yes, oh god yes please.

"Hold
on tight. And watch your head."