The Hated Billionaire by Erica Frost

Chapter 26: Christina

I rolled over sleepily as Brett slipped in under the covers. I was so tired, but the moment I felt his arm around me, his touch gentle on my hair, I felt my body flood with fresh strength.

“Hello there,” he whispered, his chin resting on my shoulder, his hand on my arm.

“Hello.”

I turned around, my body pressed to his, my lips seeking his as he held me close. I could feel his hard chest under my breasts, his body muscled and his arms tight around me, drawing me closer still.

I felt his tongue, warm and soft, in my mouth and my body melted with longing as he drew me against him. His hands moved down my back, stroking me gently, and I pressed against him, my own hands questing down his muscular body, reaching lower to grasp him in my hand.

He gasped and I squeezed and I could hear him trying to control his breathing. I was surprised by how much I longed for him, how much I ached to feel the firm hardness in my hand elsewhere in me.

He pushed against me and then he swung to lie on top of me, looking into my eyes with a tender softness.

“Let me,” he said. “I want to spoil you.”

I shut my eyes, feeling his lips move on my neck, moving lower, kissing my breasts and then moving down to my belly. He parted my thighs and I cried out as his tongue found the hardness in my folds, licking and flickering over it with maddening tenderness.

I gasped and tried to hold still as he pressed more firmly, his tongue working me harder now, his fingers stroking me and making my nerves light up with uncontrollable wonderment. His warm tongue pushed against me, insistently, flicking and sucking and I could hear my breathing, shallow and urgent, as sensation rushed through me.

I cried out as I came, and he held me, his head resting on my belly as I gasped and tried to get my breath back, my mind floating in a white haze of sheer intensity.

He lay there, letting me rest, and then gently rolled over and put his knee between mine, his body pressing on mine as he looked into my eyes.

I felt him move against me, and he entered me so slowly, his thick hardness pushing into me, buried full-length, which was considerable, inside me. I lay back, fresh new fires of longing washing through my nerves as he repeated it, pulling out and plunging in, until I could take all his fullness.

I gasped and wrapped my arms around him, holding him as he moved slowly, rubbing on the special spots inside me, my nerves lighting up as he thrust and pushed inside.

I couldn’t hold still now, and he must have sensed my excitement, because he started to go faster, moving and pulling out and in, out and in, with a wonderful connectedness that made it seem like his body and mine were made for one another.

I was gasping, amazed at how quickly he had got me to the point of arousal.

As I cried out, he gasped, his body collapsing on top of me. We lay there, our arms tight around each other, both of us washed away on the strength of our desire.

I held him, his face beside mine, our breaths tight and gasping as we lay there, held so warmly in each other’s arms. His weight felt so good on top of me, my body relaxing under him as my mind drifted in the warm sea of sated longings.

After what felt like a long time, he rolled off me. He lay beside me, his arm around me, drawing me close against him. I moved back so that his arms were wrapped around me, holding me safely. I nestled my head on the pillow beside his and I fell instantly asleep.

The next morning, I awoke to the feeling of somebody stroking the skin of my back, slowly and tenderly. My eyes shut, I pushed back against Brett, my lips smiling as he drew me close, wrapping his arms around me. I could feel he was aroused and I was too, my body longing for his.

I rolled over to kiss him, the sunshine pouring down into the bedroom. He grinned, rolling me to lie on my side, drawing me back against him.

I gasped as he reached down to stroke between my thighs.

After we had made love, my body completely relaxed, I rolled over and kissed him and he held me tight against him, his arms warm and strong as they held me completely safe. I rested a hand on his shoulder and looked into his gentle eyes.

“It’s quite late,” I murmured. “Should we get up and go to work?”

“No,” he said, kissing me. “Let’s call in sick. We have a good reason to take a day off, I think.”

I nodded. “I suppose,” I said, then smiled at him. “This is going to be fun.”

He laughed. “Yes, it is.”

We both lay there, my body warm and relaxed against his, his arms tight around me. I smiled up at him and he opened one eye, grinning sleepily at me.

“Are you awake again?”

I giggled. “I am, I’m afraid! Much as I would like to go back to sleep again.”

He smiled and stroked my back. “Shall I make some breakfast? We can eat and then get back into bed if we want. We have the whole day, after all.”

I grinned. “Yes,” I said, feeling my heart race with excitement. “We do.”

We got out of bed and went through to make breakfast together. I only had muesli and fresh milk in the house, so we had big bowls of that. The bread had gone stale, but I toasted some anyway – I was so hungry! As we sat and ate breakfast – my mind still drifting in the bliss of lovemaking – we talked together.

“I was so glad to find you,” Brett said softly. “I was so frightened for you, when we found out that you were in that warehouse!” His face was a picture of worry.

I felt my own eyes widen. “You found me?” I asked, astonished. “How did you find me?”

“Grayson actually did the work. I was so stressed when you disappeared from work that I called Teagan, my brother. He was the one who knew Grayson – he was a policeman, Grayson – and he used some equipment to track the call.”

“Wow!” I was impressed. I looked across at him, my heart so full of appreciation. “You really were worried about me.”

He looked at me. His brown eyes were so full of love and I could see, now, how exhausted he was, along with the full weight of how concerned he had been about me. “I can’t tell you how terrified I was when I couldn’t reach you,” he said. “I don’t know how, but somehow I knew something had happened.”

I held his hand wordlessly. It healed so many years of pain to hear that somebody worried for me, that somebody wanted to protect me and help me unconditionally. That someone was so connected to me that they knew when I was in trouble, when my actions were out of the ordinary.

“Thank you for coming to get me,” I said. What else could I say? My voice was tight with tears and I held him wordlessly and he held me and we sat there together, silent, the flat quiet and warm around us both.

After a long moment, I sat up and reached for the milk. “I guess we should finish breakfast,” I said, pouring myself some more muesli. “I’m pretty starving; I don’t know about you.”

He grinned. “Absolutely!”

I could see his eyes shining and I could guess that he was thinking of how we had made love. I was also thinking of it. I ate my muesli and found my mind wandering in thoughts of the previous day.

“What happened?” I asked dreamily. “After the police arrived?”

He shrugged. “Well, you saw most of it. They arrived and arrested the guys. Apparently they’ve been looking for them for ages. They get up to some seriously bad stuff. One of the things they do is loan money at extortionate rates and they can be super-violent if they don’t get paid. The police were glad to have a tip that led to their arrest.” He leaned back in his chair and just looked relieved that he’d found me, but I felt myself shiver.

“Those guys,” I explained after a long moment. “They were after me because of my father. He owed them six-hundred thousand in debt. He had a gambling addiction. He was here, trying to get money from me. That was why I was avoiding work for those days…I kept on seeing him hanging around here. He was trying to get money out of me. I was scared.” I covered my face with my hands, reliving the fear of the previous week. Now that it was finally over and I was finally out of danger, I could acknowledge how awful it was.

I was crying and he stood and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close.

“Christina,” he said, stroking my hair. “Christina, my sweetie. You’re fine,” he assured me, whispering to me where he held me against his chest. “It’s alright now.”

I sobbed, wrapping my arms tight around his waist, my face pressed to his firm abdomen. I held him and hugged him and felt years of shame wash out of me. After a long moment, I looked up at him, drawing in a slow breath.

“You’re not ashamed?” I asked. “I mean, because I come from such a different background to you? That I grew up poor, in a horrible place, with a father I was terrified of?”

He looked at me, his eyes gentle, a tender quirk to them. “How can you think I’d be ashamed?” he asked gently. “Christina, the fact that you come from that background makes you more amazing, not less. If I’d known that you had managed to get to where you are in spite of all that, it would be even more impressive – not that it isn’t already impressive, but you know what I mean.” He smiled.

I stared. “You mean…you really mean you’re impressed? That you don’t feel like you wouldn’t want to be seen with me anywhere?”

He looked at me; his turn to look shocked. “Christina! How can you say that?” he sounded almost hurt. “I would be honored to be seen with you! I’d want to be seen with you absolutely anywhere. I am so proud of you.”

I started crying. Relief was so powerful that I held him close, sobbing, while he whispered nonsense in my ear and held me tight. I sat back, sniffing, feeling washed clean.

“Whew. I guess this is just all so different to what I expected,” I said. I wiped my nose with my hand and looked up at him, eyes damp. “I really thought that you’d hate me for that.”

“For coming from a different background?” He sounded shocked. “Christina! I hope I don’t look so shallow to you?”

I grinned, feeling my mouth lift at the corners. “No,” I admitted. “No, Brett…you look anything but shallow. I’m sorry. It wasn’t because I thought you would be like that – I thought all people would be like that. I lived with that shame my whole life. I was used to the idea that people would not like me for who I was.”

“Christina,” Brett said, and bent down to look into my eyes. I felt his gaze on mine. “I love you,” he said. “Yes, I know that seems sudden, but I have been around for long enough to recognize it. I love you – gentle, sweet Christina. I have loved you for an awfully long time, but I’ve only just come to realize it. I hope that you don’t mind too much if I hang around here.” He ended shakily, a big grin stretching his lips.

I stared at him. I felt my heart flood with warmth. I had never expected to hear that! I knew I was in love with him. I had realized it a long while ago, I thought, but I had never thought I’d have a chance to say it. I loved him from the moment he had held me when I cried, when he had looked at me so tenderly.

“Brett,” I said gently. “I love you too. I think I have known it for a while. I just couldn’t bring myself to believe that it was possible, that you could love me too.” I chuckled, feeling my heart melt and wetness run down my cheeks, unable to hold back tears of joy. “I love you so much, and I would be more than delighted if you hung around here for as long as you want. If you please. Provided that’s a very long time indeed.”

We looked at each other. He grinned at me and I grinned back and I felt my heart fill with warmth.

“Well,” he said. “I think that’s certainly something to look forward to.”

I grinned, happy laughter bubbling up inside me as I pressed my lips to his and held him close and we kissed. I loved him so much, I realized, and I knew that I would only come to love him more. And we were safe and happy, both joyful to be sitting here, holding hands, on a warm and tranquil morning.