Bidding on the Billionaire (5 page)

Cade, however, did the exact opposite of what she expected. He tugged her close, releasing her hand to slip his around her waist. His tall, broad body hit hers, warm and solid, and Hannah froze. When he bent his head, she held her breath. God, he was going to kiss her.

His mouth whispered across hers, working into a luscious tangle of lips and tongues. Something about it unknotted her stomach. His kiss called to a primal place within her, calling to that lonely woman inside who needed everything he represented, and she couldn't help herself. She lifted onto her toes to complete the connection, needing more of him. Someone let out a quiet groan, though she couldn't be certain who.

She only knew he'd effectively swept her off her feet. The man made kissing an art form. She hadn't been certain what to expect. He'd always been laid-back and reserved, strong but content to let her take the lead. She'd liked that about him. So far, they seemed in a similar position—both holding back out of fear of something.

He gave her the same sense of power withheld now. His kiss melted her defenses. His lips slid over hers, and she tilted her head, opening for him. Her knees wobbled and her free hand sought the solid warmth of his body. She pressed her breasts into his hard chest, desperate for the friction of her nipples rubbing his skin.

A car honked somewhere in the street nearby, jerking Hannah back to reality. They were in public. She pulled her mouth from his but could only stare at him, breathless.

He wrapped his arm tighter around her and pulled her hard against him. His erection pushed into her stomach, solid as steel. Both of them were shaking.

After a moment, he opened his eyes, those mossy depths once again burning into her. The hunger there left her breathless. “My hotel's only a few blocks from here.”

His statement was subtle, but it hit her low, setting a blaze burning in her stomach. Something moved between them, indescribable, yet there all the same. The memory of all those nights. The erotic chats they'd shared. The promise of the night before them. Oh, for sure he wanted her the way she wanted him, and the thought of his hands on her skin had her trembling all over again, partly in fear. Once he caught sight of the scars on her torso, though, would he still want her?

When she didn't answer, he leaned his forehead against hers. “Tell me you want me as much as I want you.”

The need and the subtle vulnerability in his voice washed away everything else and made her brave. She hadn't come today to let fear stop her from enjoying him. He was sexy and sweet and Maddie was right. If she didn't do this, take this step into the first reckless relationship she'd ever had, she'd regret it. She'd end up where she'd already been—at home, alone.

She pressed closer, rocking her hips into his. “Lead the way.”

H
annah's nerve endings were shredded as they walked. Even her knees wobbled. The four blocks to Cade's hotel passed in an aching silence. The air between them filled with the luscious promise of things to come. The rest of the city around her faded as her senses honed in on the man beside her. His large presence. The scent of him that seemed to float on the breeze blowing past her. Even his long, purposeful stride did naughty things to her insides.

It didn't help that he kept glancing at her. When his gaze collided with hers—because she couldn't stop looking at him, either—the hunger burning there made her stomach do somersaults.

The simple touch of his hand in hers seemed intimate and set fire to her insides. He had the hands of a man who'd never done a day of manual labor in his life, who sat behind a desk all day. They were smooth and uncalloused. His thumb kept stroking her fingers in an idle fashion. The simple touch made her yearn to have those large, smooth hands on
her
. All over her.

She hadn't had sex in over a year, hadn't had
wild
sex in…well, okay, ever. She was about to spend time with a man whose hand in hers made her panties damp. Whispers of their previous chats flitted through her mind. They always generated so much heat between them. Would it be the same in person? Her entire body buzzed with the yearning to find out.

Several minutes later, they stood together in the quiet hallway outside his suite. Of course he stayed at the best of the best. The five-star accommodation screamed luxury in every small detail, from the doorman dressed in formal attire, who greeted them on the way in, to the sweeping staircase in the lobby. The place resembled a mansion, done in classic décor from marble flooring to draperies on the windows. His room alone no doubt cost more than her shop grossed in a month.

As he inserted the keycard in the door, her stomach tied itself in knots. Was she ready to do this? Online, they were equals, but here, in this expensive hotel, she was out of place, and Cade was far, far out of her league. She felt like a poor peasant girl to his Prince Charming.

The lock mechanism clicked and Cade pushed the handle, shoving the door. As he held it open, he turned to face her and smiled, wicked and mischievous. “There's time to back out, you know.”

Hannah forced a laugh to cover the unease gripping her by the throat.

Apparently, her laugh sounded as phony as it felt, for Cade's smile fell. Gaze somber, he lifted his left hand, stroking his thumb over her chin. “You okay?”

She wanted to laugh it off, but she'd lied to him enough. The second time around, she gave him a more honest smile, though it still wobbled a bit. “I'm nervous.”

His fingers tightened in hers. “Mmm. Me too.”

The quiet tone of his voice caught her, filling her with questions. “May I ask why? You don't look it.”

Cade pushed the door open fully and pulled her inside the suite. She barely registered the click of the door falling shut before his large, warm hands slid into her hair. A bare breath later, he pressed her back against an adjacent wall.

“Because I've been dying to do this.” He covered her mouth with his, and any thought of being nervous flew right out the window.

The kiss on the street had been sweet, a taste, passion withheld. The kiss of two people trying each other out for the first time. This one was a hot brand. It promised pleasure lay in her future. His tongue traced the seam of her lips, a question and a tease in one hot stroke. When she opened on a soft sigh, he plunged inside, his tongue dueling with hers. Goose bumps chased each other over the surface of her skin.

If his kiss alone weren't enough to overwhelm her senses, his hands moved, stroking over her. Down her sides, over her hips to her butt, only to move back up her stomach and skimming the underside of her breasts. His body surrounded her, blocking out everything but him, and Hannah let herself get lost. She sought him out as well, feeling over his firm pecs to his flat abdomen. She yearned to discover the hard muscle and warm skin beneath the fabric of his shirt. Yearned to discover all those luscious places that would drive him mad, make him gasp and groan. She wanted to remember every tiny detail for when he eventually went back to San Diego and she lay alone in the dark, craving exactly this.

“I've been dying to get my hands on you.” His voice rumbled against her skin as his lips skimmed across her jaw and down her neck. “Do you know how torturous it is to be so turned on by someone you can't even see? You have a way with words, Miss Miller.”

His use of her name had a shiver running over the surface of her skin. She yearned to hear him call her name in the grip of an orgasm. Her hips pushed forward, seeking contact with his body. When the softness of her belly brushed the hard bulge in his pants, she couldn't contain a moan.

He nipped at her bottom lip, then pulled back and took her hand. “Come on. Before I fuck you against this wall.”

The thought was damn tempting, but he wasn't the only one who wanted to take his time. If she had only this one night with him, she intended to make the most of it.

“Uh-uh.” Hannah planted her feet, and he stopped, looking back, uncertainty in his gaze.

Rather than tell him, she moved around him and led him farther inside. As it turned out, Cade's suite came complete with its own living room and a tiny little kitchen, all done in the same extravagant, old mansion style décor. The place awed her. Her entire apartment had less space than this room.

She led him to the couch, then released his hand and pointed. “I want to take my time with you as well. Sit.”

He grinned and did as she asked, sinking onto the couch, then crooking a finger at her. Standing over him, Hannah shoved her shy, quiet side into the closet and locked the door. Something about his expression filled her with feminine power. If he minded her scar, it didn't show, and she wanted to take advantage, to let it fuel her desires and set her free.

She wanted to enjoy him, and she wouldn't let her insecurities keep her from doing so. Empowered by the thought, she climbed into his lap, straddling him. His hands warmed her skin even through the thick material of her jeans as he slid them up her thighs. He didn't, however, lean in to kiss her. His expression grew serious, his green gaze raking over her face. Was he really that nervous? Once again, the thought humbled her.

She sat back on his knees and settled a hand against his chest. “What?”

His hands stilled, curving around the tops of her thighs. “Before this goes any further, I need to say one thing.”

She nodded. “All right.”

“If you're looking for permanent, I'm not it. This”—he gestured between them with his index finger—“is all about sex. No doubt incredible sex, but
just
sex. This doesn't go beyond this room.”

She suppressed a grin. His fumbling words ought to offend her, but the emotion wouldn't come. Rather, they spoke to her and bared his heart. In this instance, she and Cade had a lot in common. She had the same fears, so hearing him lay his on the table made her feel closer to him. Whether he meant to or not, his rule told her a lot about him. Someone had used him as well. “I'm surprised at you, GQ.”

He cocked a brow. “GQ?”

This time, she couldn't help smiling.

“You look like you stepped off the cover of a
GQ
magazine.” She smoothed a hand over the curve of one bulging bicep and across his chest. “I'm betting you work out every day.”

He stiffened beneath her, a shadow of something passing over his face, there and carefully masked again before she caught what it had been. “I'm expected to keep up certain appearances.”

His hardened expression screamed of secrets hidden and painful disappointments. She couldn't stop the echo of hurt from moving through her. The questions formed on her tongue, but she bit them back. They weren't here for love. She shouldn't care, and them getting to know each other more than necessary would end in her getting attached. That was dangerous, because in the end, everybody left. What she'd liked about their online exchanges was the anonymity. She hadn't known him and thus couldn't care or become attached or wait for him to decide he was through with her. Because it didn't matter. They used each other.

She stiffened her spine, remembering her role. “Well, I have to admit I expected a bit more finesse coming from a man whose job it is to sway people's opinion.”

He held her gaze, bold and unapologetic, but the nervous edge had yet to leave his eyes. His hand trembled as he smoothed it up her thigh. “I'm sorry. When I'm nervous I tend to revert to what's comfortable. I'm used to presenting the facts, cold and blunt.”

Determined to relax him, she fisted his red tie and tugged on the end. “Does that speech always work to woo the ladies?”

The left corner of his mouth quirked, but the smile fell as quickly as it came. His big hands caressed over the curve of her hips and up her back. “I wouldn't know. I've never said it to anyone else before.”

This caught her. He drew clear boundary lines, and she wanted to ask what made her so special. In that moment, though, vulnerability hung all over him. The anxiousness screaming from his gaze told her he was out of his element. Once again, he reminded her how different he was from the image he'd portrayed online. In the flesh, he was every bit as flawed and human as she was. Seeing his human frailty filled her with more questions and nudged something inside, but she shoved the queries aside. In another lifetime, he might have been someone she'd want to get to know better. In another lifetime, maybe they'd lie together in the dark and share wounds.

Gaze downcast, she forced her mind to focus on the task at hand and worked at undoing the knot in his tie. Like he said, they were here for sex, nothing more, nothing less. She had no desire to date him or get her heart broken again. “Trust goes both ways, GQ. If it makes you feel any better, your money doesn't mean much to me. Do your research, the same way I did on you. You'll find enough to know I am who I say I am. I've been taking care of myself since I was fourteen. No offense, but I
don't
need you.”

The corners of his mouth twitched, amusement gleaming in his eyes. “I appreciate that, thanks.”

Tie undone, she whipped it from around his neck and dropped it to the floor beside the couch.

“I have a few rules of my own. I agree. I don't want hearts and flowers, either. I want to use you for a while.” She arched a brow. “You okay with that?”

His hands slid to her backside. He pulled her tight against the ridge of his erection, straining the front placket of his black pants. “You tell me.”

She gasped. The solid press of his cock against her core, against the spot that had been throbbing for a week now, overwhelmed her system. Since they'd made plans to meet, she'd been in a state of constant arousal. She'd given herself so many orgasms in the last week while fantasizing about this exact moment she ought to have gotten it out of her system by now. Yet a hot, luscious pulse shot straight to her clit. She wanted him, too.

She let out a quiet, shuddering breath but held tight to her composure. “This is just for one night. Whether we go back to what we were remains to be seen, but I don't want to do this again.”

Okay, so she lied. She had a feeling she could do this with him again. And again. And again. He was right on one account. Their exchanges had become intense. She'd become addicted, too.

Cade leaned forward, scraping his teeth over her bottom lip. “I'd like to negotiate that. I'm going to be here for two weeks. I don't see why we can't enjoy each other while I'm here.”

His hands slid up her torso to curve around each breast, his velvet lips wandering along her chin and down the side of her neck. Hannah forgot her name, let alone any form of protest. Her fingers curled of their own volition into the hard muscle of his broad shoulders.

She closed her eyes, desperate to hold on to what little sanity she had left. Heated tremors ran the length of her spine. “And I w-won't spend the n-night. I have a job, and I need to be fresh in the morning.”

The bookstore was an excuse and a lousy one. Falling asleep in someone's arms created things like intimacy, and she knew better.

He nipped at the spot where her neck met her shoulder. “Ditto.”

She lifted her head and opened her eyes, pulling away enough to look into his face. Now came the serious stuff. His answer to her next question would tell her about the man and could make or break their night altogether. She wouldn't be somebody's joke again.

His playful expression fell, his brows drawing together in concern. “What is it?”

She stiffened her spine, determined to get the words out. Her hands shook so much she feared he'd feel her trembling. Nausea swirled in her stomach. “I also need to be the only person you're sleeping with. What you do in your own time is your business, but while you're here, I won't be one in a long line of your conquests, or a joke between you and another woman.”

The heat of the moment before faded, seriousness taking its place between them. He sat back, his green gaze working over her face in disbelief. “Have you ever?”

Embarrassed heat rose up her neck and into her cheeks. She glanced down at their combined laps, staring at the creases in his slacks, and nodded. “Somebody played a cruel joke once, my freshman year in college.”

“Well, he was an asshole.” He cupped her face in his hands and forced her gaze back to his, his thumbs sweeping her cheeks. “That won't be a problem. To be honest, I'm not intimate with anybody but you in any way, shape, or form. Up until seven months ago, I dated a woman I thought I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”

His words caught her. It meant, for all intents and purposes, Cade McKenzie was the marrying type. The wounded little girl inside her pulsed to life. Deep down, in a place she didn't want to name or face, she wanted the fantasy, the one all little girls dreamed of. A man she could trust, who'd spend the rest of his life worshiping her. So far, life had proven Prince Charming didn't exist. Better to stay uninvolved.