The PlayLion Billionaire: A Paranormal Billionaire Romance (4 page)

Robert’s lips barely broke away from hers as he spoke. “Mm, Olivia you’re perfect…so lovely…” Olivia moaned against his mouth, her hands trailing over his body, slithering down along his back and then his chest to find the waistband of his boxers. Robert stroked her clit in tight, firm circles, sending hot and cold jolts of pleasure through her body, making her more and more turned on by the moment.

Robert pushed her down onto her back, his lips trailing down from her mouth to her neck. He cupped her breast with his free hand, bringing it up to his lips, and Olivia cried out in pleasure as he sucked and licked, barely grazing the firm nub with his teeth. Her hips moved in automatic rhythm, her body arching and twisting as Robert slowly pushed one finger inside of her. “Do you want me, Olivia?” he softly asked her. She nodded, breathless and needy. “Tell me you want me.”

“I want you, Robert,” Olivia said—barely noticing that she had used his first name. “Please!” She heard Robert’s low chuckle as his fingers retreated from her pussy, his lips sliding up to her mouth.

She felt his weight moving on top of her, covering her whole body. Olivia pulled back from Robert, panting and gasping; her whole body was lit up -- every nerve tingling with hot and cold impulses of pleasure. He had brought her to the edge of orgasm over and over again with his fingers; Olivia was absolutely consumed with need. Robert’s hips pressed to hers, his body shifting and sliding against her hips. Olivia gasped as she felt his hard, hot cock press against her soaking wet labia, rubbing up and down slowly along her folds. “God, you already feel so good,” Robert murmured with a groan, rocking his hips against hers more firmly.

“You…you too,” Olivia said, still panting. “Mm, please, please, Robert.” Robert chuckled, and Olivia felt him shifting against her, felt his fingers brush against her labia as he guided his cock up against her. He thrust into her slowly, filling her up inch by inch. Olivia moaned, clutching at Robert’s back and shoulders. She pushed her hips down to meet his thrusts, falling into Robert’s rhythm as they both began to move together.

Olivia kissed Robert everywhere her lips could reach, exploring his back and shoulders by touch. Robert caressed and teased her even as he nipped and nibbled along her throat, kissing and licking her. Olivia noticed, belatedly, that Robert’s tongue felt rougher than she would have expected, almost rasping against her skin.

“Another time,” Robert murmured against her skin between gasps, “I want to taste you all over.”

Olivia moaned an agreement without thinking, pushing her hips down again and again to meet Robert’s thrusts as he pushed deeper and deeper inside of her. He felt so good --so right, in some way she couldn’t define --inside of her. His slim weight pressed into her was like an itch that Olivia hadn’t realized she’d had until it was scratched.

Olivia’s pleasure mounted moment by moment, her body heating up as she and Robert both began to move faster and faster. Their lips and hands moved everywhere on each other’s bodies, and within moments it seemed, she was barely able to hold herself back; she felt the first wave of climax crash through her all at once, blanking out any ability to think.

Olivia clutched Robert’s body as if for life itself, her muscles flexing in erratic spasms. She was so wrapped up, so trapped in her pleasure that she barely even heard Robert’s low, growling groan; she barely even felt the twitching of his cock deep inside of her, or the flood of sticky-slick heat as he reached his own orgasm.

She collapsed against the couch, feeling Robert sag against her, and Olivia fell into a deep haze of satisfied pleasure, panting for breath as electric aftershocks coursed through her nerves. She smiled in spite of every misgiving she had before agreeing to have sex with the man, slipping into a contented doze.

*

Robert grimaced as he heard his phone chirp, interrupting the quiet reverie he shared with the woman he had already decided had to be his. Olivia stirred underneath him at the sound. “Oh god, you should be at the office,” she said. Robert lifted himself up slightly and shook his head.

“What’s the point of being the CEO of the company if I can’t demand my own hours?” he asked her. “I’m sure nothing has exploded.” He reluctantly climbed off the couch, reaching to the floor and picking up his blazer to extract his phone. He had some warning, an early indication that his day was not going to be as relaxing as he could hope, during the lunch he’d shared with Olivia.

A text message from the member of his Pride he trusted most, apart from his mother, had come in. There was a sighting of a lone male; someone related to one of the members of the Pride that Robert had banished after he came to power.

The new message was worse.
There was a raid on our land. It’s been marked everywhere—foreign scents. Ben was injured.
The Pride’s land, a reserve set aside and held in trust with the deed belonging to a shell organization, was nearly sacrosanct; first changes happened on the land, mating ceremonies, and the monthly hunt, held during the full moon—an important occasion in the Pride’s calendar—all happened on the acres of grassland and woods.

Ben, a member of the Pride from Robert’s father’s generation, was the nominal caretaker of the land—he would have done what he could to confront whoever had raided them, and it was easy for Robert to figure out how the older man could have been injured.

How serious are the injuries?
He would deal with the insult to his Pride; Ben was one of the few links that Robert still had to his father, a trusted member of his community.  He would have to be, in order to have been given stewardship of the land. The response from Alexis came quickly.

He’s going to be in the hospital for a day or two. His mate is with him; Carrie took the cubs.
Robert frowned. Were-lions had many preternatural healing abilities. For Ben to need to stay in the hospital meant that it was serious, indeed.

Who was it?
Robert glanced at Olivia; she was watching him warily, as if she wasn’t sure if she should just volunteer to leave, or stay where she was.

Working on that. There’s about a dozen scent-marks. One of them belongs to Peter.
Peter was one of the males that Robert had driven out -- one of his own generation who challenged him for the position of Alpha. If he was involved in a raid on the Pride’s land, then he was obviously looking to take over. If he brought strangers in, then the problem was much bigger than Robert originally thought.

Keep me updated.
Robert put his phone down and smiled at Olivia. “Nothing to worry about, just a minor crisis.” Olivia raised a dark auburn eyebrow with a grin.

“A minor crisis is something to worry about by definition,” she countered. Her smile fell. “Look, this was a big, huge mistake,” she said, sitting up. “If…if you were actually serious about hiring me, then I absolutely should not have slept with you.”

“Did you fall asleep?” Robert asked, half-joking. “I didn’t hear you snoring.”

“I don’t snore.” Olivia blushed and looked around the room. Robert could smell her pheromones shifting, the scent of anxiety overtaking sleepy, and satisfied pleasure. “I am not going to be one of those women who gets a job because she screwed the CEO of the company,” Olivia said firmly, looking at him. “Or who keeps her job for that reason.”

Robert sighed.

“I gave you the job because you’re a qualified candidate. You’re the most qualified candidate I’ve seen.”

“I’m the only candidate you’ve seen!”

Robert grinned. “The most qualified candidate for any job I can think of inside of my company. That has nothing to do with how good it felt to be inside of you.”

“So then you won’t refuse to hire me for not sleeping with you again?”

Robert took a deep breath.

“No,” he said slowly. “I won’t. You can start Monday whether or not you ever sleep with me again, and I won’t fire you, either.”

“Then…” Olivia climbed off the couch on legs that Robert could see were still not quite real to her, with the unsteady grace of a newborn deer. “I am going to pass.”

Robert stood quickly, intercepting Olivia as she moved to pick up her clothes from the floor.

“Are you passing on more sex with me because you think I’m going to try and make you stay with me to keep the job?” he asked her. “Because it seemed to me like you enjoyed it. If you enjoyed it—what’s the harm in getting to know me a little better?”

“The harm is that everyone will know and I’ll be that woman who slept with the boss to get a job!”

“No, you slept with the boss because you were attracted to him. You got your job because you’re damned good at what you do.”

“That isn’t what people will say,” Olivia protested. “I just—literally a few hours ago, your own employee basically accused me of screwing my way to my present position.”

“He was an ignorant asshole and a sexist,” Robert told her. His hands dropped to her sides. “I know you wanted me. I know you still do. You shouldn’t not do something just because of what other people might say about it.”

“I am not going to ruin my reputation for you, Robert Lowe,” Olivia said, surprising Robert with the sudden steel in her voice. She looked at him levelly. “It was really nice of you to take me to lunch, I had a great time, and now I’m leaving. If you even try to stop me, I swear I’ll—tell everyone about what you did.”

Robert took a deep breath.

“If you want to leave,” he said, feeling a stirring of anger inside of him and holding it back, “of course I won’t stop you.” He stepped back from her and watched as Olivia quickly dressed and turned her back on him, walking briskly out of the suite.

CHAPTER THREE

Robert paced back and forth in front of his desk, ruminating on the problems he faced. Olivia had started work the day before; he wanted -- almost needed --to see her, but after the way she had left his apartment following their tryst, he had a very good idea of how she would respond to any request to see him in his office that he tried to turn into an opportunity to have sex.

Fuck, what is wrong with me?
He had never been this distracted about a woman before; even when one of the women he flirted with played hard to get, he had found it at least relatively easy to cut his losses and move on to greener pastures. However, in the days since he slept with Olivia, he found he couldn’t seem to go more than a few minutes at a time without thinking of her: her lush, alluring pheromones, the way she’d felt wrapped around him, the way she moaned and moved against him, the way she tasted.

The issue of her constantly being on his mind was compounded by the fact that the problems with his Pride had deepened. He had told his mom in passing that he might have found a woman to be his mate. She was shocked. “Who is she?”

“A human,” Robert had told her. It was not ideal; bad enough that Olivia didn’t want to sleep with him because she thought that doing so would ruin her reputation. If she found out that he was a were-lion before he was able to win her love, he’d lose any chance with her, altogether.

“I’ll let the elders know,” his mother had told him, and he could hear the skepticism in her voice. Not all humans were able to adapt to living in the community of the Pride. Robert knew other lions that had taken human mates, whose pairings had ended when the human simply couldn’t live with the dual nature of the were-lion they were with.

But the news that Robert had found a potential mate didn’t make things better in the Pride. A potential mate was not an actual mate; he knew that those who were starting to waver in their commitment to him as leader thought that he was simply trying to stall. The raid on their territory had created a schism within the Pride, one that could only be mended when Robert was solidly mated off, when he had asserted himself not only as Alpha by right, but by combat.

The culprits were harder to locate than Robert had thought. Katarina, one of the best trackers in the Pride, had not been able to find any trace of the renegades in the town closest to the reserve. Robert had put a few other members of his Pride on the case. They were individuals he knew to be trustworthy; but so far, days later, there was no hint of the raiders who were responsible.

He was stuck in a position that was particularly difficult for any Alpha to bear: he had to wait for the next move.
They must not be confident enough to confront me directly,
he thought, pausing for a moment in his pacing.
If they were, I’d have received a challenge by now.

Robert sighed. Thoughts of the renegade lions stalking his territory and his Pride brought his mind back around to Olivia. If he were going after an Alpha and he wasn’t strong enough to challenge him, he would go after the Alpha’s mate. But if Olivia didn’t even want to see him, there was no way for him to keep her under his protection.

Robert sat down heavily at his desk, threading his fingers in his hair. It was impossible. He had to get Olivia to come around; he had to get her at least to accept his overtures. She would be safer in his company than out of it.

The only thing he had to comfort himself with was that they had not yet become actual mates; no one within his company knew exactly who it was he was interested in courting, and he was fairly certain no one outside of his company had that knowledge either. For the moment, it was secret.

Maybe you should just give her up,
he thought.
Let her live her life and put this behind her, find someone who can actually adjust to life in the Pride easily. Another lion.

Robert knew that he couldn’t do that; he had never felt such a sudden, bone-deep need to be with someone the way he had with Olivia. Anyone else he could find would pale in comparison. The scent of her pheromones filled his mind and Robert felt a hot jolt rush through his body; she was imprinted on him. He would know her scent anywhere in the world.

The solution was as simple and as complicated as convincing her to see him again, to give him a chance to persuade her. Robert smiled slightly to himself; he remembered the steel in her voice, the determination in her demeanor, when she had told him that if he didn’t let her leave, she would go public with allegations about his misconduct.

Score another point for her: she’s fearless.
Robert sighed. Olivia
was
fearless. She had barely even checked when she realized who he was, instead launching into her complaints against Alex. Robert shook his head, smiling in spite of his worries. Olivia was exactly the kind of woman he wanted as a mate, but he would never be able to convince her to be his mate if he couldn’t get her to see him.

He picked up his phone and called the PR department. “Yes,” he said, when the interim manager picked up. She was not a member of the Pride, but she was someone that Robert knew he could trust to do the job properly. “You have a new member of your team, Olivia?”

“She’s finishing up orientation now,” Jennifer said. “I got a look at her quals. That was a great call on your part, sir.” Robert frowned at the use of ‘sir’—he was too young to be called that honorific. But he pushed that consideration aside.

“I have a project that I think will require her particular skill-set. Can you send her up?” Robert smiled wryly to himself. Olivia would not be able to balk at the invitation—it was, after all, her job.

He began to form a plan as Jennifer agreed to send the new employee to his office immediately.
You never get a second chance at a first impression, but you can tweak second impressions endlessly.
He sat back after hanging up the phone, thinking of how he was going to approach the issue that seemed the most important to him; getting Olivia to talk to him.

He knew that the moment she heard from her new boss that the CEO wanted to talk to her about a project, she would suspect that he was trying to get into her pants again.
And I am. God, who wouldn’t?
Robert shuddered, remembering just how good she had felt, how good she had smelled and tasted.
But I can play a long game. At least for a while.

He quickly put together some notes, developing the kind of prize project that any PR person would love to receive. It would be an outreach program, something to enhance the reputation of Lowe Freight in the public consciousness, with charity ties. He would put Olivia in charge of it; it was technically above her pay grade, but it would give him many opportunities to meet with her for progress reports.

He would address her completely as a professional, appeal to her ambition. Once she had begun to relax, to accept that he was willing and ready to treat her as an employee regardless of their relationship or lack thereof, he would start to persuade her.

When Olivia stepped into his office, Robert kept his face carefully neutral, gesturing for her to be seated. He thought he was prepared for the wash of her pheromones, but the gunpowder scent of her brittle anger mingling with the thicker, sweet smell of her body was enough to briefly make him wish that he had decided on a different plan of attack. He took a slow breath, struggling against the impulse to launch himself over the desk and rub himself all over her lush, curvy body.

“Why did you pick
me
for this assignment?” Olivia asked as soon as she was seated, and Robert could hear the control in her voice.

“Because you’re the employee best suited to do justice to it,” Robert told her. “I’ve been working on the concept for a while, and now I have someone who can execute it properly.”

“You’re sure it’s not because you wanted a reason to call me up to your office?”

Robert shrugged. “I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want to see you again,” he admitted. “But you have defined our relationship; I will be strictly professional.

I didn’t bring you here to make a move on you, Olivia. You are the best candidate for this project, it’s as simple as that.” He extended a folder of documentation towards her, taking a deep breath to steady himself.

Olivia looked over the paperwork he had provided, and Robert got himself firmly under control once more. He was not going to jeopardize the grudging trust that Olivia was bestowing on him; he would show her that she didn’t have to worry about him being inappropriate, that she could believe that he wasn’t just keeping her around to be his plaything. His arousal felt like a lead bar in the pit of his stomach, but as long as he was seated, Robert told himself that there was no reason for Olivia to know about it.

“All of the suggested charities are wildlife conservation organizations,” Olivia commented, looking up from the paperwork.

“It’s a pet cause of mine,” Robert said with a shrug. “What better way to improve our reputation than to do something good for the planet?”

Olivia considered.

“Well, Lowe Freight has gotten flack in the past for environmental impact. It would be good publicity to give something back.” Robert nodded. Olivia looked at him for a long moment, setting the folder down.

“I think with your experience with Bright Star, you’d be ideal to take charge of this. It’s above your current responsibilities, but after a few months we can discuss integrating you into a higher position, assuming that you perform well,” Robert said.

“Just how well are you expecting me to perform?” Olivia asked sharply.

“I expect that you will do a great job on this project. If you need supplies, additional help from the Publicity team, anything like that, you can go to Jennifer.” Robert fought down the urge to smile; he knew that Olivia thought he would make her go through him for everything.

“How often are you going to require a progress report?” Olivia asked.

Robert shrugged.

“A weekly meeting, no more than an hour, in the executive conference room. I’ll also be getting reports from Jennifer about how you’re working.” Olivia’s steadfast gaze would have been more unnerving if Robert wasn’t struggling to keep his voice level, to keep himself from the leonine impulse to do whatever it took to make Olivia understand that she was his mate.

“Are Fridays okay?” Olivia asked, her voice utterly level.

“Fridays are fine. Let’s make it during the lunch hour; you’ll be too busy at other times of the day and I want to make sure you aren’t so busy you end up not eating.” Olivia’s lips quirked and Robert wondered if he had overplayed his hand.

“Should I bring my lunch with me or will you be having lunch catered?”

Robert laughed. “I will have lunch brought in for us. It’s the least I can do if I expect you to work during your lunch hour.”

*

Olivia walked towards the parking garage, lost in thought. She had stayed late the entire week, working on the logistics of the project that she was working on for Robert. She stopped short, frowning in puzzlement.
When did I start thinking of him as Robert?
There was something about that level of familiarity that disturbed her.

She bit her bottom lip. They had been working on the outreach project for three weeks; somehow, at some point in that time, she had stopped thinking about him as the CEO of the company, as a man who had slyly used the excuse of a job interview to seduce her. She had approached their first meeting warily, fully expecting for Robert to make another move on her, to convince her that it would only be right for them to sleep together again.

Instead, Robert had been absolutely professional; he had asked pertinent questions about her progress, asked about her needs to get things done more quickly, and made comments about what Jennifer, her manager, had told him about the work she was doing.

Her request for someone to do research into some of the charities he wanted the company to work with was immediately granted; but he had not given an inch on the suggestion she made that being on the receptionist coverage rotation was slowing her down.

“It’s part of your first ninety days here at the company,” he had said. “I appreciate that your circumstances are unique with this project, but I can’t treat you differently, and there are other people in the pool who have heavy workloads covering the reception desk as well.”

Olivia had respected the fact that he wasn’t making an exception for her; she found the need to occasionally cover reception irritating, but since the roster included both male and female new employees—and since the goal of that assignment was to promote organizational understanding—she couldn’t argue against it.

But when did I start thinking of him as just Robert?
That was the mystery that plagued her. Olivia realized she had been standing stock still in the middle of the garage for several minutes and stirred herself to walk once more; she wanted to get home at a reasonable hour, spend some time with her TV and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia, and get a good night’s sleep.

As she walked, Olivia tried to pin down the moment when Robert had become someone different in her mind. Gradually, as their weekly meetings recurred, she had relaxed her guard; it was obvious that whatever thoughts Robert had of using the project as an excuse to try and convince her to prolong their fling, he had abandoned it.