The Billionaire’s Bride by L. Steele

38

Ava

His blue eyes glower as he eats me up with his gaze. The skin around his eyes tightens and his lips thin.

"Please," I urge him. "Please hit play."

"No," he snaps, and I draw in a breath. Fine, I can do without the music.

I bend my knee to drop the hip. The tiny coins at the edge of the hip scarf jingle. I straighten the knee to lift the hip, keep my knees soft and centered. Drop hip downward, then flow into a heavy deep-seated drop. Every tiny move is amplified by the sound of the coins rubbing against each other.

His chest rises and falls. He leans forward, his gaze captured. He watches my every step as I rise up and into a lighter half-drop. I trace a circle with my hip, out to the side, then back, then pull into my center.

I keep circling, keep an open connection between my hip and heart, drawing energy in my movement. Keep everything supple and flowing, allow the energy to flow around my body.

I sense him walk around to stand in front of the bar. Good. He's caught in the energy, the rush of the performance. As am I.

I lift my hip upward and slightly forward, activate the outside of my thigh and hip to give the movement oomph. Drop slightly, then lift.

He takes a step closer, leans forward on the balls of his feet.

I bring my shoulders up together, then let both go. Another fast shoulder drop, while swaying my body from side-to-side. I ground my feet and shift my weight to the side, push my hips back, then round to the other side.

I peek up at him from under my eyelashes, and flinch. The coldness in his arctic eyes—it’s freezing. His gaze intensifies. I hold the connection, refuse to look away as I move into a figure eight. I twist my hip forward, shift the weight onto the front of the foot, then turn the foot and the hip inward.

He swallows, clenching his hands into fists.

I twist my hips inward, then out again. I lift and drop, lift and drop again. Shimmy shoulders, undulate my waist, as I flow into a figure eight, this time in the vertical direction. Keeping my movements fluid, I channel the energy from my belly. Again. And again.

Sweat beads his forehead. The skin around his lips whitens. I twirl my fingers, beckon to him, and he takes a step forward, and another. I reel him in and he closes the distance between us. He glares down at me as I hold up both of my arms, lean my torso forward. My breasts brush his chest and he hisses.

"I need you, Baron." I tip my chin up, and his lips firm.

"You're stretching my patience." His jaw tics and a nerve throbs at his temple. His blue eyes deepen into that almost cerulean color that takes my breath away.

"Fuck," he growls. "F-u-c-k."

"Yes, please." I widen my legs, shimmy down his length in a wide plié squat. I lower my butt until I almost touch the floor. Then gaze up at him from under my eyelashes. His glare intensifies and his chest heaves. The blue in his eyes is stormy, tortured, tormented. Tension rolls off of him; the force of his dominance pins me in place, and I stay there, poised. A beat, then another. My throat dries, my thigh muscles protest, but still, I don’t move.

The band around my chest tightens, my leg muscles scream at me to move. I begin to straighten and he clicks his tongue. "Don’t even think about it," he growls.

I freeze, tip up my chin, and hold his gaze.

"Did you mean what you said?" he finally asks.

"A...bout?"

"About making up your mind?"

I nod.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

I jerk my chin.

"Are you convinced that you belong to me?"

Yes. Yes. Yes.I tip up my chin, meet his gaze. Allow him to read the expression on my face. "

His throat moves as he swallows. Then his jaw firms. "If we do this, if I fuck you now, there is no going back."

I don't take my gaze off of his face.

"If I take you now, I am never letting you get away."

My scalp tingles, my fingers tremble, and a pressure builds at the back of my eyes.

"If we are together, Ava, I'll ask everything of you. I'll strip you bare, I'll infiltrate your deepest desires, your most secret dreams, the most intimate of your places. Nothing about you will be off limits. Not your thoughts or your words, not your body or your mind... Certainly not, your soul. I'll imprint myself in every cell of your body... Your every breath will belong to me."

My toes curl, my belly trembles, and moisture pools between my legs.

"The flutter of your eyelashes as you fall asleep, your dreams, the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning... All of it will be mine. I'll be in everything you see, in every taste you draw into your body. Every sensation that filters to you will originate from me... Do you...understand what I mean?"

I draw in a harsh breath. The band around my chest tightens. My skin feels too tight for my body. This man, these words... They are etched in every particle of my being.

"Do. You. Understand?" he snaps.

I jerk my chin. My legs threaten to give way from under me, and I push my heels into the ground to hold steady.

"Say it, then," he growls. "Say you are mine."

"Yours." I swallow. "I am yours."

"That you get that there's no going back.

"No going back."

"That you belong to me."

"You." I nod.

"That—"

"I love you," I burst out. "You, Baron, only you."

His breath catches. His gaze bores into me. The emotions rolling off of him vibrate between us, thicken and swirl. Heat spools off of his body, slams into my chest. I gasp, trying to draw in a breath, and my lungs burn. The strength of his intention lassoes around my shoulders, ties me to him. Then he moves. He dips his knees, swoops down and grabs me between my legs. He straightens, hauls me up with him, by my pussy, and my entire body jerks.

"Last chance, Ava," he cautions. "Leave while you can."

"I... I can't." I lick my lips and his gaze darts to my mouth.

"If you stay, I am not letting you go, not until I have fucked the thought of any other man out of you."

Heat flares low in my belly. My core clenches, and he must feel the instinctive reaction, for his lips curl.

"So, you in or out? Eve?"

Oh, my god.My nipples pebble, my breasts ache, and all of my brain cells seem to combust. "In," I rasp, "I'm in."

"Good." He releases me so suddenly that I lose my balance and wobble. He steps back and the warmth of his body recedes. A shiver runs up my spine.

"Take off your clothes," he growls.

I hesitate and he arches an eyebrow.

"Now." He lowers his voice to a hush and my nerve endings spark.

"Do it." He leans forward.

I spring into action. I untie the hip scarf. It pools around my feet, and the coins jingle. I toe off my boots, kick them away with the scarf. The clinking rises then fades away. I lift the skirt of my dress, grab my stockings and begin to roll them down. I pull them off, hold them up, and let them slide through my fingers. They flutter to the ground, and neither of us glances that way.

"All of it," he grates out. "Take. It. All. Off."

My mouth dries. Not that I haven't been naked in front of him before, but this...feels different. Like it’s the first time that he'll be seeing all of me. Nude and vulnerable and completely bared for his inspection.

I undo the top button on the front of my dress, then the one after it, and the next. Push one sleeve down, then the other side. I tuck my elbows close to my sides and the dress flutters to the ground. I step out of it, then shrug off the camisole I am wearing as well.

I stand in front of him, clad only in my purple bra and panties.

He looks me up and down, "You know what they say about purple, right?"

"N...no," I stutter.

"It's a sign that you haven't been fucked enough, something I need to rectify...soon."

He smirks, and goosebumps pop on my skin.

Shit, all this build up. It's doing me in. The cool air in the room brushes over me and my nipples pebble. Or maybe it has to do with how he's staring at me, like he's going to eat me up. Oh, how I do hope he does.

He raises his gaze from my chest to my face. "Off with it," he growls.

A giggle bubbles up and he frowns.

"What?"

"That was a very imperious command."

His glare intensifies. His shoulders flex. "If you need help taking the rest of your clothes off—" he leans forward, and I hastily reach back and around for the clasp of my bra. I undo it, shrug it off. Reach for my panties, roll them down and step out of them. I stand before him without a shred of clothing. Without a shred of armor. He takes his time perusing my form—from my eyes, to my lips, my breasts, my stomach, the flesh between my thighs, to my feet. By the time he raises his gaze to my face, every part of me feels like it's on fire. My nipples are so hard, they are twin points of pain. My belly trembles and my core feels too moist. I squeeze my thighs together and he shakes his head. "Not yet. You don’t have any right to relief. Not until I give you permission."

Oh, hell.I gulp, "This is going to be a long...long night."

"You have no idea." His lips twist. He makes a circle in the air with his fingers. I frown and he lowers his chin. "I can help you...if you want." He closes the distance between us and I instantly pivot, turn my back on him. Heat from his big body flows over me, cocooning me. The contrast between that and the cooler air on my front makes me shiver.

His breath sears the shell of my ear as he whispers, "Bend down; grab your ankles."

"Wh...what?"

"Don't make me repeat myself."

He places his palm at the small of my back, urging me to do his bidding. I widen my stance, lean over and grab my ankles. I glance between my parted legs as he sinks to his knees.

"What the—?"

He slides his tongue up my exposed slit from the entrance of my pussy to my backhole.

"Oh, hell." I gasp, "Oh, my, bloody hell."

"Indeed." I sense his lips curve against my tender flesh. He thrusts his tongue inside my cunt and my thighs tremble. I would fall, except he grabs my hips, holding me in place. He thrusts his broad shoulders in between my legs, forcing me to slide them apart further.

He thrusts his tongue in and out of me, in and out. Bringing his hands up to grip my inner thighs, he pries them apart, pulls his tongue out of my pussy, only to bite down on my swollen clit. I scream. The climax screeches up my legs and that's when he releases his hold on my cunt. He straightens, and my orgasm retreats. I blink. What the hell? What's that all about?

He bends forward, winds his fingers around the nape of my neck, urges me to unbend, stand straight. He pinches my chin so I turn to glance at him, and he licks my lips. He brushes his mouth across mine and the taste of him, laced with my essence, sinks into my palate.

"You fucking taste of honey, you know that?" He groans into my mouth and my heart hammers in my chest. "You're so damn irresistible. Once I let you in, I'll never be able to get you out of my head." He stills, "Who am I kidding?" He murmurs as if he's talking to himself, "You're already imprinted on my heart, Eve, and I don’t know what to do about it."

I swallow.

"When I thought that I'd lost you, I swore that I'd never let anyone this close to me again. Why should I trust you again, Eve? Why?" He stares into my eyes, "Tell me what stops you from leaving me again?"

"I... I won't," I promise.

He holds my gaze and somehow, something in his eyes tells me he doesn't believe me completely yet.

"How can I prove it to you?" I murmur. "Tell me what I should do, to show you how much you mean to me."

"You won't be able to do it."

"Try me."

"You're sure?" His eyes gleam.

I nod.

"Move in with me."

"O...kay."

"Marry me."

"What?" I blink. "What did you say?"

"Marry me, Ava."