The Wolf’s Billionaire by Layla Silver
Chapter 9—Bastian
I didn’t sleep much that night.
Instead, I went through all three of the packets of pre-measured coffee grounds that housekeeping had left in my room, making one pot after another. When I ran out of the disgusting powdered creamer on hand, I started drinking it black.
I set up my laptop on the room’s laminate table with a notepad and pen beside it. From the hidden depths of my digital files, I unearthed the skeleton of a plan for going into business for myself that I’d started years ago and occasionally pulled out to poke at when I was particularly unhappy with my work.
With no fidget toys conveniently on hand, I carried my coffee cup with me as I paced, turning it around and around as the wheels in my head spun and my thoughts churned. Every few steps, I darted to the table to make notes, add or change something in an email draft, or sketch a pathetically terrible picture to help me organize my thoughts and next steps.
By three a.m., I’d fleshed out my plan with many of the details I’d never been able to envision before. Instead of a question mark after the word “headquarters,” I now had “main street” written in big, bold red letters. A ream of notes underneath listed questions to ask and steps to take to get started on securing one of those empty storefronts on Main Street as my new home office. I’d need to do massive renovations, of course, but that was no obstacle. My new pack would have connections—they’d point me in the right direction for reliable construction companies locally.
My new pack. The words sent a shiver of excitement and joy through me. Ainsley had been the key, the direction I’d been looking for. With her, I’d found not only the love of my life but my place in the world.
I understood, intellectually, that my acceptance into the pack wasn’t guaranteed yet. I’d need to keep courting Ainsley, then propose at a suitable time. But when she said yes, I knew they’d take me in—with Ainsley and Renly in my corner and everything I could offer, I was certain of it. Then I’dhave everything I’d ever wanted—and I’d use it to give my stunning bride everything she’d ever wanted.
I’d build her a house in any style she desired. Give her a limitless line of credit to buy beautiful things to fill it with and ensure we had a cleaning service and a chef and whatever other supports she could think of so that she never had to worry about a thing. When she had time off, I’d take her around the world—to Europe, to see the stately homes her favorite classics were based on or anywhere else she wanted to go. The sky would be the limit and I would never let anyone hurt her again.
Vaguely aware that I was dangerously close to waxing rhapsodically in my head when there was a tremendous amount of excruciatingly boring, tediously nitty-gritty work to be done, I took a break and wandered down the hall to the snack machine.
Pop-tarts weren’t precisely the pre-breakfast of champions but putting food in my stomach slowed me down enough to consider sleep. Setting an alarm on my phone for six a.m., I dropped onto the bed still fully clothed and passed out.
***
When my phone went off I woke with a jolt. Groggily, I dragged myself into the shower. Setting the water for full cold, I gritted my teeth against a yelp and a slew of expletives and stayed there until the freezing water pelting my skin drove every last ounce of sluggishness out of me. Only then did I dial up a more humane temperature and scrub myself clean.
After my shower, I hunted up clean clothes and then drove myself to town. The coffee shop had barely unlocked its doors when I stepped inside and ordered a quadruple-shot cappuccino. It occurred to me while I waited that I didn’t know what Ainsley’s preferred type of fancy coffee drink was. We had so much still to learn about one another.
Cappuccino in hand, I returned to the hotel and put in about an hour of solid work. It was too early for phone calls but I sent a deluge of emails and cleaned up my business plan into something more presentable. Then I fired it off to Matt with a request that he find a coffee shop well away from the firm’s campus, buy himself a few drinks on me, and proof it thoroughly.
I was doing an online search to locate and compare properties on the main strip currently for sale when my phone went off again. It was a text from an unknown number. Pulling it up, I grinned.
Good morning. It’s Ainsley. I feel bad about falling apart on you last night. Do you want to come over for breakfast?
Quickly, I typed back, I’d love to. When?
Whenever you’re ready, the reply came back a moment later.
I’ll be right over.
Tossing my phone on the table, I got up and made short work of brushing my teeth and otherwise making myself presentable. I needed to have a serious conversation with her over this meal and I’d like to do it looking like a man who knew what he was about.
It was a short walk to her suite and early enough yet that no one else was out and about. She must have been watching for me because the door opened before I could knock.
All my thoughts of having a serious conversation evaporated.
Ainsley was wearing a dressing gown. Not a robe but an honest-to-god green velvet dressing gown that wouldn’t have looked the slightest bit out of place on a Golden Age Hollywood starlet. Her hair hung over one shoulder in loose, glossy waves, and her skin seemed to glow, fresh and soft.
My jaw dropped.
Her shoulders hunched and she fingered the collar of the gown timidly. “I know it’s a bit much—”
“It’s incredible.”
She blinked as though she hadn’t expected a compliment. Pressing one palm to the door, I pushed it further open. Ainsley stepped back automatically as I strode inside. Shoving the door shut behind me, I slid my arms around her and kissed her.
Ainsley sighed against my mouth, her body melting into mine. Coaxing her lips open, I swept my tongue against hers, savoring the natural sugar-sweetness of her. Walking forward, my arms still around her, I guided her to the table. It was a marginally nicer color of laminate than the one in my room but seeing it made me promise myself I’d buy her a real wood table when we got a house. A vintage one, heavy and polished to a fine sheen. She was too good to be devoured on a table this cheap.
Not that I intended to let that stop me just at the moment.
Cupping my hands under her thighs, I boosted her up onto the table. Still kissing her, I found the ties at the front of her gown.
“Bas.” Ainsley laughed as I ducked my head to kiss along her jaw as I tugged at the knot in her belt. “I promised you breakfast.”
“Is anything on fire?” I asked, trailing kisses down her throat.
“Mmm,” she whined, tipping her head back and twining her fingers in my hair as I nosed aside the collar of her gown. “No, but—oh!”
She gasped as I got the dressing gown open and brushed a kiss against the inner curve of one breast. Her nightgown was different than it had been when I’d put her to bed. It was a mint green, unambiguously a match to the outer gown, and silky to the touch. I cupped a hand around her other breast, rubbing my thumb slowly over her hardening nipple.
“Bas!”
I stopped and pulled back. Ainsley’s eyes were bright and her skin rosy. She bit her lip under my gaze.
“Do you want me to stop?” I asked quietly. I stroked my thumb over her cheekbone. “I did promise to mostly keep my hands to myself and, if you’d rather, we can have a perfectly civilized meal,” I offered.
Keeping my hands to myself would be hell, but I’d sworn that I wouldn’t let anyone hurt Ainsley again and that had to include me, first and foremost.
“I—no,” she stammered. “But you don’t have to…” Her eyes darted sideways and her chin tucked toward her chest. “I mean, I haven’t even... um, usually men prefer if I do that first. Not that I’ve been with that many!” Her eyes flew back to mine, wide and alarmed.
“Ainsley, sweetheart.” I smiled, warm affection welling in my chest. “I don’t care who you’ve been with before or what they taught you to expect. The only thing that matters is what you’re comfortable with, right now.” I stroked one hand over her fabric-covered thigh. “Would you rather not be an appetizer?”
Her lips curved in what I guessed was an involuntary smile and she looked up at me through long lashes. “If you want to, I don’t mind. But if you’d rather not, I won’t—”
I cut her off with a kiss. “I very much want to. But since we’ve paused, let me take you to bed. This table is truly atrocious.”
She laughed as I tucked an arm beneath her and picked her up, her legs instinctively wrapping around my waist as I carried her to her bed.
“Are you going to take this jacket off?” Ainsley teased, tugging at it when I was forced to set her on her feet to pull back the covers. “Or just keep it on the whole time?”
“I’d have it off already if you weren’t so distracting.” With the covers tossed back, I shucked my jacket and started on the rest of my clothes. “You look like a damn movie star.”
“Now you’re exaggerating,” she frowned.
Deciding the best answer to that was nonverbal, I shed the remainder of my clothes, hooked an arm around her waist, and dropped backwards onto the bed. Ainsley squealed as she fell on top of me, then giggled as I rolled us over, sprawling her beneath me. Her dressing gown fell open, blanketing the sheets in decadent green velvet and creating a luxurious backdrop for her pale skin. Without pause, I pushed back onto my knees and hitched the mint silk up her legs and past her hips. It pooled on her stomach as I tucked my fingers in the waistband of her panties—lace again, this time the color of fresh cream—and slid them off of her.
Folding forward, I nudged her thighs apart and buried my face between her legs. I’d had infinite patience our first time together but I couldn’t conjure even a shred of that now. Not when I’d spent so many nights dreaming of her and the better part of the last week diligently keeping my hands to myself while we were within view of the public eye despite my desperation to touch her.
This wasn’t an evening’s dalliance anymore. It wasn’t a show of skill. This was the woman I loved, the woman I wanted to wed and have children with. My ravishing Ainsley, who needed to be told with touch what she would not believe in words.
She whimpered in pleasure as I lapped at her, her hips shifting then jerking when I circled my tongue around her clit. She tasted like honeyed cordial and I feasted on her, my hands tucking under her to hold her in place as I learned exactly how she liked to be taken. When her legs started to tremble, I eased one finger inside her.
Ainsley mewled, her inner muscles clamping down around the digit as I slowly worked it in and out of her.
“Bas,” she gulped, her hips rocking. “More. Please.”
Happy to oblige, I worked a second finger inside her. I took up a steady rhythm, tapping her clit with my tongue each time I pushed my fingers inside her. Always, I kept my touch light and smooth, edging her persistently closer to climax in a careful but relentless spiral.
Ainsley tossed her head, her hands clutching at the sheets. The sounds she made set my blood singing and my cock throbbed with the need to be inside her again. Forcing my desire down, I focused on her—on the way she moved, the faint sheen of sweat glimmering on her skin, the now-constant tremors running through her body. When she was right on the edge, I pulled back and replaced my tongue with my thumb, feathering it over her sensitive nub in barely-there brushes that made her shriek.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” I murmured, unable to tear my eyes off her. Without pausing the movement of my thumb, I angled my fingers just a little on the next push.
Ainsley’s eyes snapped shut and she came apart with a cry.
I pulled my fingers out of her but kept stroking her slick folds, encouraging her to ride out the high and trying to extend it as long as I could. Her chest heaved for breath as she came down, the swell of her breasts against the silk of her nightgown reminding me that I’d been negligent. Stretching out alongside her, I nosed the fabric aside and took the peaked tip of one breast in my mouth.
Ainsley moaned, her hand digging into my hair again and pulling me tighter against her.
Perfectly capable of taking a hint, I pushed my fingers back inside her while I nibbled and sucked at her nipple. The heel of my hand pressed against her clit, giving her just the right pressure and friction without spilling over into being too much.
When I switched my attention to her other breast, Ainsley rolled onto her side, pressing herself against me and slinging one leg over my hip, trying to get closer. She was shaking again, clinging to me and babbling wordless pleas as her inner walls squeezed around my fingers chasing her release. Lifting my head, I captured her mouth in a kiss as she shuddered apart for a second time.
This time, I couldn’t ignore my body’s demands. I was burning up, my restraint having reached the point of physical pain. Rolling up to a sitting position, I tugged Ainsley into my lap. She was boneless with bliss and made no protest when I grabbed fistfuls of her nightgown and dressing gown and dragged them up, pressing the heels of my hands to her hips so that I could position her over my cock. Her legs refused to support her when I loosened my grip and she sank down onto my jutting cock with a happy moan.
Letting go of the fabric, I tugged her close. Her arms slipped around my neck and she rested her forehead against my shoulder as I thrust up into her with shallow lunges of my hips.
She was divinely slick and hot around me and I breathed her in greedily as I took my pleasure. The sag of her body against mine, warm and heavy, felt like triumph and trust. Bracing one hand at her hip, I used the other to stroke her damp hair and cradle the back of her head.
“My beautiful Ainsley,” I rumbled, kissing her jaw as I thrust again.
I wanted to tell her that this was only the beginning. That I’d learn every inch of her and take her to heights of pleasure she’d never known before. That I’d be here every time she needed to be held or reminded how breathtaking she was. I wanted to tell her that she’d look staggeringly lovely when her body was swollen with our pups and that I’d spend the rest of my life helping strengthen our pack.
But putting off my release had taken its toll and the crush of emotion in my chest cut off any words. I could only clasp her to me tightly and rut myself to a messy, starstruck finish. When I came, the world fragmented and I let go, allowing myself to be washed away by the overwhelming rush of it.
When I began to piece myself back together, I was on my back, Ainsley asleep on my chest. Wrapping one arm around her, I let myself doze, utterly content.
***
I felt like I’d barely shut my eyes when the first bars of We Are Family blistered my ears and yanked me awake. On my chest, Ainsley startled.
“Shit. Sorry.” Rolling to the side, I deposited her on the bed and lunged for my clothes. Fumbling for my phone, I hit the “decline call” button and dragged a hand down my face. My body objected to the disturbance and the sudden movement and guilt stabbed at me as Ainsley blinked at me, bleary and uncertain.
Before I could offer a better apology, the phone went off again—the same song. I waited two cycles through the ring tone, then declined it again. I was about to drop the phone on my clothes and climb back into bed when it sounded for a third time.
My heart plummeted. The ringtone was Meredith’s personal cell—selected mostly for the joy of annoying her. It was early for her to be calling, and for her to keep calling even when I’d blatantly declined the call was bad. Very, very bad.
Jerking the phone up, I hit “accept.”
“Bastian.” My step-sister’s voice was taut. “You need to come home. Right now. Malcolm’s had a heart attack and it’s bad.”
“Fuck.”
“Don’t ask questions,” she ordered, “and don’t drive. Go to Logan Airport in Boston. I’ll have the jet waiting for you.”
I didn’t answer. There wasn’t anything to say. I just hung up.
Ainsley had sat up and drew her dressing gown around her stiffly. “Is something wrong?”
“I have to go,” I said woodenly. Crouching, I rifled through my clothes and pulled them on mechanically, too numb to do anything else. When I stood, yanking on my jacket, Ainsley was beside me, worry etched in her expression. My heart ached at that but there was nothing I could do about it now.
“Everything will be fine,” I promised, grazing a kiss across her temple.
The words sounded hollow and I knew that, but I couldn’t think. Couldn’t do anything at all except what I’d promised Meredith—get my ass to Boston and then Baltimore as fast as humanly possible. Without another word, I turned on my heel and stalked out.
