At the Billionaire's Pleasure Christmas Stocking (3 page)

He
flicked off the light beside the bed and dragged me down under the
covers once more with him. His hands stroking little circles across
my skin, raising my heartbeat once more and making me gasp when he
touched me all of my most sensitive places. No David wasn't like
that. But he did know just what to do, in order to put my mind and
body at ease. His mouth engulfed mine with a hot kiss, stealing my
breath and sending my mind spinning. I didn't care about my
nervousness anymore. All I wanted was him.

***

The
sheets were tangled around my legs when I woke the next morning. A
thin shaft of icy cold light had cut through the gap in the
curtains and lay across my face. Rolling over in the bed I tried to
cover my face and hide from the morning. It had never been my
favourite time of the day. It usually signalled the beginning of a
long boring day at work. Or at least that was how it used to
be.

Ever
since David had sent me that faithfully pm through the office
computer work had never been the same. When he wasn't there, the
hours dragged. More often than not he took me with him on business
trips, using me as a personal secretary during the day, and
something far more intimate at night.

When he
was in the office, that was when life became far more risqué. David
liked to play games, pushing me to the edge of my comfort zone, but
never so far that I couldn't trust him. He knew me. Knew what I
could take, which usually turned out to be far more than I had
thought possible myself.

One
particular memory sprang to mind. David's fingers buried inside my
body as I had tried to furiously type up the minutes from a
conference call he was having. Trying to keep my breathing under
control and my moaning to a minimum had been the hardest part.
Every time I thought about it, it brought a blush to my cheeks and
things low in my body tightened with excitement. David had enjoyed
making the torture even worse by insisting on asking me questions
during the call, his fingers going into overdrive each time I was
forced to answer him. I had thought about completely giving the
game away, and giving into his sweet torture but my own sense of
decency stopped me.

David
stepped into the room, breaking my thoughts and making me blush
furiously. My nipples were hard and I was breathing hard as though
I had just run up a flight of stairs.

He
watched me silently from the door way as he sipped his coffee, as
though willing me to carry on. I didn't, choosing instead to sit up
in the bed and wrap the sheet tightly around my body as I made my
way into the shower.

Something gleamed in David's eyes as he followed me in and
leaned against the sink. I stood for a minute. Neither of us had
spoken and I didn't want to be the one to break the silence now. It
had become a game of wills. I knew he would win, but it was always
nice to put up a fight. I needed that.

Staring
into his eyes I dropped the sheet from my body. My teeth biting
into my bottom lip as I tried to stop a blush from crawling up and
over my cheeks. The way he watched me, he made it feel like I was
stripping for him for the first time, every time. I couldn't
understand how he did it. But the nervous butterflies in my tummy
made me giddy.

In my
haste to step into the shower my foot slipped on the edge of the
tile, sending me crashing backwards. I didn't scream, I didn't even
have the chance. One minute I was stepping into the shower and
spending far too much time watching David and the next I was
heading for a collision with the cold marble floor.

The
sound of a splintering mug met my ears a split second before
David's warm strong arms wrapped around my body. He scooped me up
and pulled me tight in against his chest, cradling me there as
though I weighed little more than a feather. It surprised me that
he could do that. But then David was full of surprises.

Opening
my eyes I peeked up at him. The nervous butterflies had decided to
become tremors that shook my entire body. David grinned at me, the
look in his eyes saying it all. I burst into laughter. A
combination of relief and the sheer ridiculousness of the
situation. I wasn't clumsy when I was on my own. But when I put
David in the mix I became a walking klutz.

David's
grin widened and he chuckled as he propped me back on my feet. A
brush of his lips against my forehead was all I got as he retreated
from the bathroom.

"I'll
wait for you out here... I think it's safer." His voice was still
filled with laughter as he moved away.

Glancing
down I caught sight of the smashed cup on the floor. A small puddle
of coffee surrounded the white ceramic and I felt a little bad. I
wasn't sure why and it was utterly irrational but I couldn't help
it. With a shake of my head I climbed into the shower and let the
water soothe away all of my worries.

I didn't
really have time to be feeling bad about things out of my control.
I had bigger fish to fry, in the form of who would I meet at the
Chalet. My nerves made my stomach turn. I hadn't eaten a thing but
that wasn't enough to deter my nausea. It was silly to be so
nervous about meeting David's friends. If I trusted him the way I
seemed to think that I did, then surely I shouldn't be as nervous
as I was.

I had
gone into business meetings with him, I had even met his mother and
brother. But for some reason this weekend away, just before
Christmas bothered me more than anything else had.

The
faint sound of David's voice drifted to me from the other room.
Shutting off the water I climbed out of the shower and wrapped one
of the large white fluffy towels around my body. His voice was much
clearer now. And there was something in his tone that made my blood
run cold.

"... It
will be fantastic to see you again, meeting for lunch just wasn't
enough..." There was a pause. My heart beat faster with each
passing second and I could imagine what was being said to David on
the other end of the line. My heart wanted it just to be a friend.
One that we would meet this weekend and it would all prove to be
completely innocent. But my head said otherwise.

"No, she
won't see it coming..." David's voice faded as he moved out of the
bedroom and further into the apartment.

My heart
sank like a stone in my chest. I knew I shouldn't have listened in
on his private call, but it hadn't been intentional. I knew him. I
knew him as well as he knew me and that tone in his voice told me
everything I needed to know about that call. Add to that what he
had said...

I
swallowed back the tears that threatened to cascade down my cheeks.
They were right there on the back of my tongue. But I didn't want
David to know that I had been upset. In fact I didn't want him to
know anything. Mentally I had been preparing for this day ever
since David had taken an interest in me. It just didn't seem right
that a man like him would ever have an interest in a woman like
me.

I wasn't
slim and clothes didn't look good on me the way they did some
women. I was attractive but not beautiful. And David had seen me
naked. He knew every flaw on my body and part of me had started to
believe that he really did see my flaws as beautiful. That they
were simply a part of me and he loved them anyway.

But I
could never compete with some of the women David was exposed to in
his world. Some of them were truly stunning. Models and it wasn't
always their job description. Some women were just drop dead
gorgeous and then there was me. I would never be like them. I would
never look like them. And there was no way on earth that David
would ever want to stay with the likes of me when he had such
beauty to chose from.

I
clamped my hand over my mouth in an attempt to control my
breathing. It hurt. It hurt everywhere. I wanted to believe that I
was wrong. That what I was feeling was simply an overreaction. That
everything would work out hunky-dory, but my mind refused to let go
of his words. I repeated them over and over in my brain, turning
them this way and that in an attempt to reconcile it. But it was
pointless.

The
sound of him re-entering the bedroom had me panicking for a minute.
He would know I was finished in the shower. If I didn't emerge soon
he would think something was wrong...

I
gripped the edge of the sink and sucked in several deep breaths. If
I could just regain control of myself once more I would be able to
deal with it. Perhaps all was not lost? He hadn't left me... yet,
and that meant there was still a chance to bring it back. If I
could prove to him that he needed me, that I was just as good as
any of the other women out there, then perhaps I stood a chance of
changing his mind.

A small
giggle escaped me. It was so absurd. It reminded me of the romantic
comedies I liked to watch. If only life was really like that. A
simple misunderstanding and everything could be sorted
out.

A
different thought hit me then. In all of the movies I loved to
watch the one ridiculous thing that had always struck me was why
didn't they just talk about the misunderstanding before it blew up?
I could ask David. And I was almost one hundred percent certain
that he would give me a straight answer.

Squaring
my shoulders I pushed my damp hair back over my shoulder and made
my way to the door. I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror
and as my hand rested on the door handle all of my confidence fled.
I looked at my reflection and the words I had prepared in my mind
died on my tongue. I couldn't confront him. It was stupid and
childish but I couldn't do it. I would have this weekend with David
and whatever else happened I would simply accept it.

In that
few seconds as I stared at my own reflection I was ashamed of
myself. Ashamed of my lack of back bone and my inability to talk to
the man I loved. Releasing a sigh I shut my eyes. I didn't want to
cry anymore. There would be plenty of time later for regrets. For
now all I wanted was to feel David's arms around me. After
everything we had been through, in his arms was where I felt
safest. And I knew it would never change... Not even when the
weekend ended and so did the relationship. I prayed I was wrong.
And if I was, I promised that I would be more confident, that I
would finally believe what David was telling me. But I knew deep
down it was an empty promise. And those are the easiest to make...
And break.

***

Getting
dressed without alerting David to a problem was trickier than I had
anticipated. Every time his fingers trailed across my skin, or his
lips pressed to my neck I imagined him saying goodbye. I couldn't
help it and I didn't want to but it happened.

"Lucia,
rang while you were in the shower. She can't wait to meet you and
apparently the lake up there is entirely frozen over... Have you
ever been ice skating?" David's voice was filled with joy. He was
so excited about the trip. But his telling me who had phoned at
least made me feel a little better.

"No
never, I can't imagine I'd be very good at it either." I imagined
myself out on the ice and it wasn't a pretty picture. It would be
just my luck that the ice would crack and I'd fall through. It was
a sobering thought. "I don't think I've heard you mention a Lucia
before?" I couldn't resist asking about her.

"We go
way back. Spent a lot of winters together in the Chalet, her family
knows mine. We've been friends forever."

I nodded
my head slowly and plastered a smile across my lips. David frowned
for a moment as though sensing my unease and the fact that I was
keeping something from him. He opened his mouth to add something
but the sound of the door buzzer prevented him.

He left
and I turned and picked up my own cell phone. One message flashed
on the screen. I wasn't expecting to hear from anyone. Friends and
family knew I would be away, another thing David had taken care of.
Pressing the screen I waited for the message to flash up. When it
did, my heart faltered in my chest and my stomach turned over with
unease.

I miss you. xxx

I knew
who the message was from without even reading the name. Richard. It
had been a long time since he had last dared to contact me. The
moment David had found out about it he had gone ballistic. And if I
was honest I couldn't blame him. Richard was a nasty piece of work.
I had plenty of nightmares about that last night he had been in my
apartment. The way he had pawed at me and pinned me beneath him. If
David hadn't arrived when he did... Well there was no doubt in my
mind that Richard would have raped me. He was drunk and in his mind
he couldn't see what he was doing as wrong. I was a slut in his
eyes and one he could use whenever he wanted... Even after we had
broken up.

Another
message beeped through and I shuddered.

I want to see you again. I'm sorry for what I've done. We can
start over... I love you. xxx

I felt
sick to my stomach. Richard was in my past and he certainly wasn't
someone I would ever go back to... The last man on earth idea
popped into my head and I laughed. Not even if he was the last man
on earth.

Drop dead.

Was the
message I tapped into my phone. I watched with a growing sense of
satisfaction as the phone beeped to tell me the message was sent.
Without a backwards thought I dropped it into my handbag and moved
out into the main area.