Escorting the Billionaire by Leigh James
Audrey
“I still like you,” I whispered to James. “Barely.”
“Gee, thanks,” he said, kissing me on top of my head. “Do you need to go to your apartment? To get anything?”
“I’m going to have to. And I need to go to New Horizons, and also call Elena. There’s a lot I need to take care of. But I think I’d like some coffee first.” I blew out a shaky breath. “I have to go see my mother, too. To make sure she understands the financial incentive/blackmail package we’re offering her.”
“It’s a day of reckoning,” James said, looking at his watch. “My parents are flying back tomorrow afternoon. Everything needs to be in place before that.”
I looked at him, still not completely understanding what he had planned. “What do we need to do?”
“I’ll call Danielle’s parents, to see what they’ve done in terms of contacting the police. I’ll probably have to follow up and give the detectives a statement. They’ll want to speak with you, too. You’ll have to tell them how my mother threatened you and exactly what she said with respect to Danielle. And then we’ll go from there. I need to speak with my brother, to tell him what’s happening. This is going to be very hard for him. And I have no idea if my father was involved or not.”
James ran his hand over his face. He suddenly looked tired. “I don’t know if they’ll have enough to arrest either of them. They need probable cause—I don’t know if the information we’re going to give them will amount to that.”
My head was spinning. “What if it doesn’t?” I asked. “What if it does?”
“I don’t know,” James said. “But we’ll be prepared either way.”
“You’re methodical. And smart,” I said. “I’m just pointing that out to you.”
He laced his fingers through mine. “That’s what you’re here for, babe.”
When we headedinto the lobby of The Stratum, it felt as if we were coming home. I was so comfortable with James now, it was the opposite of the first time he’d brought me here. The attendants greeted us warmly, their faces open and familiar. When we got into the elevator, I started to laugh.
“What?” he asked.
“I’m just remembering the first time I was in here with you,” I said. “I couldn’t take my eyes off you—and your big hands.” James lifted his hands up and examined them, as if for the first time. “And I kept wondering what you had going on underneath your suit.”
“Well, you ought to know,” he said. He leaned down and kissed me. “You’re the expert in that department now.”
“I was so annoyed that I was attracted to you,” I said. “I thought it was inconvenient. Especially since you said you didn’t want to sleep with me.”
“Oh, I wanted to sleep with you,” he said and tucked my hair behind my ear. “As soon as I saw you, I wanted you.”
“It sort of took you a long time,” I said, pretending to pout.
“I’m pretty sure we’ve made up for lost time,” James said, his eyes darkening as he looked at me. I leaned up and kissed him, slowly, our tongues connecting. Heat shot through me, and I threw my arms around his neck.
“I’m ready for more now, though,” he said. “You didn’t come near me last night.” Now it was his turn to pretend pout.
“That’s because you said I was a grifting whore. Just like my mother. That’s not exactly my idea of foreplay,” I said.
“How about this instead,” he said. As the door opened, he grabbed my ass and hoisted me up on him; I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he carried me toward the door, kissing me deeply.
I could feel him against me, hot and hard, and it caused a familiar ache all through me. He punched in the code without looking.
I wanted him, but the hurt I’d felt last night bubbled up in me, mixed with the hot, heavy desire I was feeling. “Tell me you love me,” I said.
“I love you. You know I do,” he said, carrying me into the bedroom. He laid me carefully on the bed, then he looked around and smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy to be here before. I don’t even hate Boston anymore. What have you done to me, Audrey?”
“Taught you how to relax and eat onion rings in bed. Went to Fenway Park with you and drank beer. Oh—and I popped your swan-boat cherry,” I said and shrugged. “All the important things.”
He knelt on the floor before me and kissed me, gently at first. Then the kiss deepened, and I felt myself open up to him. I hadn’t realized it, but I’d been balled up inside myself, like a fist, after what he’d said last night. But now I clung to him, forgiving him, trusting him.
He pulled back from me for a second. “Tell me you’re mine,” he said. “Say it.”
“I’m yours,” I said. “I love you so much.”
“I want to see you naked with that tan,” he said, stripping my clothes off roughly. “It’s been too long.”
“It’s only been a day,” I said, laughing, but I felt it, too. The need. “James—I was hurt last night. It was stupid, because I understood what you were doing. But still.”
He’d already managed to take my clothes off, and I looked up at him, as naked and vulnerable as I could be. “It’s hard for me not to believe… the bad things about myself.”
“But you shouldn’t believe them,” he said, his eyes burning into mine. “You’re the best person I know, Audrey.”
“Thank you,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. I didn’t want to cry and ruin our sexy moment—I was aching to have him inside me. “I trust you, James. It’s real. And I… I trust you with all of me.” I ran my hand down my naked body as his eyes raked over me, making me flush with heat. As he watched, I started playing with my breasts, making my nipples hard and elongated. I opened my legs a little, offering myself to him.
“My turn,” James said and grabbed my hands, holding them above my head. He put his mouth on me, licking and sucking my breasts hungrily. He ran his hands down my body. He quickly found my clitoris and circled it slowly with his powerful fingers, making me moan as he got me wet.
“I want to bury myself in you,” he said, as I moved beneath his hand. “After I make you come first.” He continued to circle my clit, and I rocked against him, getting slick with wetness. I could already feel a tremendous orgasm building inside me. He bit at my nipples, and I cried out, arching my back. He increased the pressure on my sex as I writhed beneath him.
I was fighting my orgasm. I preferred to come when he was inside me, when we were totally connected. Like this, I was completely at his mercy. He was in charge of my body right now, and my body was out of control.
“I can’t,” I said. “I don’t want to… I need you inside me, babe.”
He stopped touching me and watched my face. “Do you trust me?” he asked. I nodded at him. “Then let me be in charge. I want to explore your sweet, tight body,” he said. He got on his knees and put his lips on me, and his tongue circled my swollen sex. He was in control, and I had to ride the waves of pleasure that were crashing through my body. I had no choice.
He pulled back for a second. “When I’m ready, I’m going to fuck you. Deep and hard.” He took my clitoris in between his teeth and bit it gently, and then continued to suck and nip at me. I threw my head back and cried out. He continued to lick me, and suck me, and play with my body until I shattered beneath him, an orgasm ripping through me. Completely out of control, I screamed his name as my body spasmed.
“James,” I panted as it started to subside.
“Are you ready for me now, baby?” he asked. He stood up and put his long, hard cock against me, rubbing it against my slit as I was still shaking from my orgasm.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Please.” I was desperate to feel him inside me. He didn’t make me wait; he was so hard he was about to burst. He stood at the side of the bed and entered me like that, almost immediately, all the way to his hilt. I moaned as he filled me, and I looked up at his glorious, tanned, and muscled body. His cock was enormous and hard inside me, and my body fit around his tightly, as if I’d been built for him.
He thrust into me once, twice, deep and sharp. I ran my hands down his muscled lower torso as pleasure ripped through me. He was in deep, like he promised, and it felt so good. I felt complete.
I wrapped my fingers around the base of his shaft as he continued to drive into me. I let my hand stroke his base with each thrust, wanting to increase his sensation and his pleasure. It worked. He threw his head back and was riding me hard, his hands gripping my hips. “Holy fuck, Audrey.”
He was in deeper than I’d ever felt him. I felt the familiar pleasure build inside of me, and I started to come, all of my senses overtaken by him. He buried himself into me, over and over, fucking me through my orgasm and finding his release. His powerful arms wrapped around me as our orgasms shook the bed.
Afterward, he collapsed next to me. “Damn,” he said and pulled me against him. I nestled there happily, feeling content and completely connected to him. I was waiting for him to say something more—then I watched as he promptly fell asleep with a smile on his face.
“I love you,” I whispered.
He opened one eye and looked at me, that happy smile still on his face. “I love you too, babe.”
I wokeup a few hours later with sun streaming through the windows. James was up, wearing his Wharton T-shirt and some sweats. He was pacing around the room.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “I got you your coffee.” He motioned toward the nightstand.
“Thanks,” I said. I sat up and took a sip, eyeing him warily. “You’re pacing for a reason, James. I’d like to know what that is.”
“We’re back home from the trip. Our two weeks are up. You’ve fulfilled your contract.” He ran his hands through his hair.
My heart clenched, and I put the coffee down before I spilled it. “Is this the part where you fire me? Again?”
“Not if it’s the part where you quit. Again.” We just looked at each other for a beat. “No, Audrey—we’ve reached the end of our mutual agreement, is what I’m saying. There’s nothing but free will going on here.”
“Okay,” I said, a nervous pit forming in my stomach. “When you asked me to move to California with you… that was free will, right? So has something changed?” I asked nervously.
“No,” he said. “Yes.” He ran his hand through his hair again. “Being with my family these past two weeks has had me thinking. And all of this horrible stuff about my mother and Danielle—it’s made me realize some things.”
He paused for a beat. “Do you remember what I told you Todd said to me? Right before the wedding?”
“No,” I said. I looked at him blankly. “Was it something like, where the hell is Audrey running off to? ’Cause that’s when my mom showed up.” He was scaring me, and I was just babbling, afraid to hear what he had to say.
“No,” he said and sighed. “That wasn’t it. It’s something that’s been bothering me.”
“Okay,” I said again. I braced for whatever was coming next.
“He said that when you finally figure out what you want in life, you’re pretty ready for forever.” James came and sat on the bed next to me. He reached for my hand. “Like I said, these last two weeks have had me thinking. About family. About what I want… for my family.”
I held my breath.
“Audrey, it’s taken me a very long time to find you. And we haven’t been together very long. But I’ve finally figured out what I want. And I am pretty ready for forever.”
He got off the bed and knelt by me. He pulled a small black box out from his pocket, and I was pretty sure I was no longer holding my breath—I’d just stopped breathing. He opened the box, and inside there was an enormous, square-cut diamond, fit for a princess.
“Are you?” he asked.
I was stunned. I just blinked at him. “Am I what?” I asked stupidly.
“Ready for forever?”
I blinked at him again.
“I don’t want to wait anymore,” he said, watching my face. “I love you. I want you to know that I mean it forever.”
I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t find my breath.
“Audrey, will you marry me?”
Finally, comprehension dawned on me and I nodded my head up and down.
“I’m going out on a limb and guess here—is that a yes?” he asked hopefully.
“Yes,” I whispered, finding my voice. And then I threw myself at him. “Yes, yes, yes.”
