The Billionaire's Secret: A BWWM Romance Mystery (30 page)

Chapter Thirty-Four

Sanniyah

I'm
swimming up out of the darkness, and something feels
niiiice
. I can hear myself moaning and it wakes me up to find
Carter Easton's dark blonde head between my thighs.

"Good
morning to you too!" I say. Or at least, I try to say that. It comes out
more like strangled, garbled gibberish as his hot tongue swirls around the
tight bud of my clit. I ride the waves as they pulse through me, pushing me
higher and higher until I am gasping out a lazy morning's orgasm before I am
even fully awake.

When I
unclench my thighs, Carter kisses each one of them in turn, then sits up and
makes a great show of wiping the glisten from his stubble before he covers my
mouth with his. Any other man would have me shy about kissing before I even
brushed my teeth, but Carter's enthusiasm for me is infectious, and I embrace
him just as eagerly as he is holding me.

"Damn,"
I say when he finally pulls away.

"Was
that a happy damn, or a sad damn?" he asks, sliding his fingers between my
legs again. "Because I can try again if that wasn't good enough."

I sock
him lightly in the shoulder. "If you try that again, I will never leave
this bed."

"Good
enough for me," he smiles, diving under the sheets again.

"Carter!"
I squeal. "You're going to kill me!"

"This
is going to kill me," he corrects me, cupping the bulge in his boxers.
"Waking up and seeing you all sleepy and floppy like this? God damn,
Sanniyah.”

I
smile. I've smiled more in the last twelve four hours than I have in weeks.
"I can't have a murder on my conscience," I tell him as I move his
hand and yank his boxers down. He grunts as I take him into my mouth, but he
doesn't let me get more than a few licks in before he is pushing me backwards
onto the bed. The crinkle of the foil wrapper has me salivating like one of
Pavlov's dogs, wet and ready so he slides in there as smoothly as silk. He
shudders as he enters me, and I know he is as close as I am.

"Dear
god," he rasps, his breath raking across my ear. He rolls his hips,
careful to touch every one of my sensitive places. "I'm going to need you
to come, and quickly. Can you do that for me, Sanniyah?

"I
can do that. Unh," I moan, pressing myself into him. He is moving so
slowly I know he is right at the edge. He is so impossibly hard inside of me,
and the exquisite roll of his hips has me writhing and arching.

"Here,"
he says, biting my lip as he moves his fingers down. When his thumb finds my
bud, he begins to rub in time with his achingly slow thrusts. I squeeze my eyes
shut, and nod, letting him take control, giving him the complete possession of
my body that he needs and I crave.

Within
seconds I am shuddering again, a wrenching orgasm tearing through my body like
wildfire. The minute he feels me clamp down on him, he groans and lets out a
long, shivering moan that is about the sexiest noise I have ever heard in my
life. I hold him tightly; kissing everywhere I can get my lips until he comes
at last to a halt with a sigh. "Damn," he says.

"Was
that a happy damn, or a sad damn?" I tease him. His eyes are so damn blue
they are unreal.

"Both,"
he sighs. When he catches my quizzical look, he laughs and brushes it away with
a quick kiss. "I just wanted to fuck you a bit longer than that, Sanniyah.
Like forever longer."

"My
clients will understand," I nod, pulling myself free. "Your sister
will be fine."

"Please
don't mention my little sister while I'm still semi-stiff and you're all
gloriously naked?" he pleads. He looks down at his cock. "Oh god,
he's all confused. I think you broke him."

I press
a kiss to the smooth head. "Feel better, big guy. I'm not done with you
yet."

"I'm
healed!" Carter announces, so quickly that I'm laughing again.

He has
me laughing the rest of the day; in the shower as we jockey for position under
the showerhead, in the kitchen as he makes me eggs again for breakfast and then
once more for lunch, in the living room as he keeps interrupting my phone calls
by making funny faces to distract me. Having him here is going to kill any productivity
I could hope for and I'm strangely okay with that.

When he
stretches out beside me that night, I lie awake in wonder at how seamlessly he
has fit into my life. Two days ago I could not have imagined that I would ever
be able to make things work with Carter Easton. Now, suddenly, I'm wondering
how I ever did without him.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Sanniyah

I hover
in the doorway. "You sure you're okay here?"

Carter
stretches out on the couch with my laptop. "I can get everything I need to
do done online." He smiles up at me, a little tightly. "I did that on
purpose."

I waver
for a moment. "Well, you know where everything is."

"Come
back soon," he smiles, craning his head up to me. I kiss him one last
time, then step out of the apartment for the first time in three days.

Leaving
him feels like leaving a dream and stepping out into the harsh light of
reality. Today's wedding is a small affair, one I could have done in my sleep
back before Carter. But the knowledge that he's waiting for me to come him
makes me sloppy and rushed.

Especially
when he calls.

"What
are you wearing?"

I snort
in the vestibule. "You saw me, dumbass."

"Tell
me again."

I look
up. This is a church I've used before and I know there is a private baptistery
off the main part of the church. I glance at my clock. The ceremony will be
going for another forty-five minutes at least. Very Catholic brides are my
favorite in terms of downtime.

I duck
quickly into the corner, light streaming through the stained glass windows
covered in reproachful looking cherubs, and I feel deliciously guilty as I
whisper. "The black dress."

"The
one with the red belt?"

"Yes."

"Mmm,
I like that one. How about underneath it?"

My
whole body flushes with a deep, overwhelming heat. I shift in the pew and lean
forward, whispering the words. "The black lace bra from our first night
together and a thong." I hear a scraping sound and dart a look around. An
old relative of the bride is making his way slowly to the restroom, but judging
by the size of his hearing aid, he's not going to hear me whispering into my
phone. I hope.

"That's
not painting me a vivid enough picture. I need details, Sanniyah. Tell me about
this thong."

Without
meaning to, I feel my hand brush up along my hip. "A tiny
 
thing," I tell him, my voice
lowering seductively. "It's black...lacy. My favorite pair,
actually."

"Take
them off."

"Carter!"
Desire makes it come out more like a moan.

"I'm
serious. Take them off."

"What
am I going to do, carry panties around a wedding?

"No."
Carter's voice has taken on that low, bossy tone he uses in the bedroom, and I
am reacting to it just the same as if I were underneath him. I am rocking back
and forth, grinding myself into the hard chair as I listen to him tell me
exactly what to do. "You're going to stand up, right now, while I'm on the
phone with you, and you're going to take them off. Put them in your purse and
go bare for the rest of the day."

"Why?"

"Because
I'm telling you to."

I moan
in spite of myself. He's right. I'm already standing up, just because I can't
resist it. I slide my hand up my skirt. "Okay," I breathe.

"Let
me listen. I want to hear."

I slide
the phone down to my hip and look over my shoulder. I am alone, only the
reproachful cherubs can see me, but my heart is still ready to pump right out
of my chest. Quickly, I yank them down and turn to stuff them into my purse.

"Okay,"
I breathe again. My thighs tighten as I feel my nakedness.

"Good,"
Carter's tone is still commanding and I lean forward, bracing myself for what
he's going to ask next. The restroom door bangs open, making me jump, and the
old relative begins his slow shuffle back to the ceremony. It is such a close
call that I am wet with relief. I hear Carter lick his lips into the phone.
"Now, Sanniyah, tell me something.."

"Yes?"

"How
wet are they?"

I
clench my thighs harder. "Very."

"Are
they wet enough, do you think?"

"I
think so, yes."

"But
you're wetter now that you're not wearing them, aren't you?"

The
rush that accompanies his words has me moaning again. "Yes," I pant.

"When
you come home, I'm going to meet you at the door. You're going to give me your
panties, right then, and then I'm going to check you. I want you wet and ready
for me. Do you understand?"

"I
do," I groan. I am panting audibly into the phone.

"Sanniyah?"

"Yes?"

"Come
home."

I dart
a look at my clock. A half an hour until the ceremony is over. It's a risk.

"Okay."

He
meets me at the door, just like he said he would, his hand out. Blushing, I
hand him my panties, which he clenches in one fist, while darting the other
hand under my skirt. "Very good," he breathes, as he slips a finger
inside of me.

I make
it back to the ceremony just as they are ready to throw the rice. I smile like
the professional I am, and no seems to notice that my hair is mussed and I am
still not wearing any panties.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Carter

Let the
world outside be damned, I've found paradise. It's a sixth floor apartment in
an okay part of town and it's inhabited by an actual angel.

In
between fucking her and cooking for her, I'm happy enough just to hang around
watching her. She spends most of the morning on the phone, doing all of the
bootstrap work I remember from when I started my own company all those years
ago. The promotions, the press releases, the greasing of suppliers palms, and
the never-ending search for clients.

She's
good at it. Better than I was, I see that right away. Where I am more of a
big-picture, idea person, Sanniyah is gifted at breaking things down into
steps. Her vision boards and timelines are like a foreign language to me; both
impressive and utterly incomprehensible.

I feel
bad eavesdropping, but she's given no indication that she is looking for these
calls to be private. So I sit back on her bed and watch her chew the end of her
pen, her face screwed up in this cute little frown as she places her call.

"Yes,
thank you, I can hold." She taps the pen nervously. This call seems a
little different than all the others. Her calm, collected demeanor is fraying a
bit at the edges. She catches sight of me looking at her and smiles, then holds
up crossed fingers. I nod and cross my fingers too, and the look of gratitude
she gives me makes my heart hurt.

Then
her attention snaps back to the call. "Felicia! Yes, hi, Sanniyah Jones,
Rita Torres gave me your number?" Her smile falters a bit, but she plows
on. "I do realize you're busy, but I was hoping you had a chance to look
over the press release I had sent you. As Rita may have mentioned...uh huh...no
definitely, my inbox is out of hand as well." She gives a brittle laugh.
"I believe I sent it, let me see, about four days ago? That would
be...yes, the twenty-first." Her shoulders are slumping lower and lower
and I want to reach through the phone and throttle the person she's talking to.
"Well of course, I would be happy to call back, is there a particular time
of day you'd prefer? No, I get that, believe me. I'll be in touch very soon.
Thank you so much, Felicia. Will you please tell Rita I say hello? Wonderful."

The
frozen smile melts off of her face the minute she hangs up. She stares at her
phone, slumped over, her face a mixture of disappointment and confusion. She
looks deflated.

"Anything
I can do?" I ask. I can't see her like this.

She
startles like she had forgotten I was there. "Um, no, not really."
She turns to her computer and begins scrolling through the massive quantity of
emails that I can tell from here are all organized and filed. "There it
is," she mutters. "It has a fucking read receipt, you bitch. I know
you opened it."

She
slams her laptop lid closed and hops to her feet. "I need to take a walk,
you want to take a walk with me?"

I feel
her words more than I hear him and they are a punch directly to my gut. My
throat goes dry and I feel the icy trickle of cold sweat slithering down my
next. Gripping the sheets in my shaking hands, I try to stall, hoping she can't
hear the panic in my voice. "Where do you want to go?"

She is
already putting on her sneakers like this is nothing to her. "I don't
know, I just need to move, stop staring at a computer screen for a bit. The
park's only three blocks from here, we could grab a bite at the gyro
truck."

"You
tired of my eggs?" I stall.

She
laughs and stands back up, shaking out her hands and jumping up and down.
"I'm just...all pissed off and antsy. I need to burn a few calories."

"I
can think of a calorie burning activity we can do right here," I urge,
patting the bed beside me.

She
rolls her eyes. "Carter, we've barely left this apartment in three days.
It's nice and all, but I think I'm getting a Vitamin D deficiency. Can't we
just go for a quick walk?"

She
doesn't know what it costs me to rise from the bed. I feel like I am moving
through ice water, slowly freezing to death while she watches me with nothing
more than impatience. "Sure," I tell her, my tongue too thick in my
mouth. "Just a quick walk."

This is what normal couples do
, I
tell myself as I walk to her elevator like I am preparing to meet my doom.
They go out, they walk, they experience
things together. You said you were ready.

I am not ready!

"Ow,
Carter!"

I am
gripping her arm too tightly. "Sorry." She doesn't know that if I let
go of her I might drown.

The
first step out onto the sidewalk is like stepping off the edge of an abyss. I
squeeze my eyes shut, feeling exposed, a prey animal waiting to be picked off
by unseen predators. Sanniyah is already moving, her hand in mine the only
tether that is keeping me from running full tilt back to her apartment, back to
my helicopter, back to my island, my sanctuary, my safety....

"Fuck,"
I hiss audibly, and open my eyes. If I can just keep them fixed on Sanniyah.

She is
about a pace ahead of me, the crowds parting in front of her. She leads me and
I know she thinks it's just because I don't know the way to McMahon Park. I do,
of course. I grew up five blocks north of there. Summer camp was that the civic
center on the north end. My dad would drop us off on the hot summer mornings,
the pavement already starting to bake even at the early hour. And my mother
would pick us up at the end of the day. My mother...

"Carter,
watch out!" Sanniyah yanks me back on to the sidewalk just as the wash of
air from the passing bus hits me full in the face.