Billionaire Erotic Romance Boxed Set: 7 Steamy Full-Length Novels (163 page)

I lost track of time in the heavenly shower that Alexander enjoyed every morning before coming to work. I told the shower to stop and sure enough, it did. I then toweled myself off with the softest towel I had ever touched. I used some of the lotion that had been left out on the counter and my skin felt as smooth as the day I had been born. I slipped on the robe that felt like silk against my skin and walked out into Alexander’s bedroom, feeling refreshed.

He stood in his room, stark naked. I was taken slightly aback. His physique was something to admire. Every muscle was perfectly toned like an Olympic swimmer, not disgustingly rippling like some steroidal bodybuilder. Despite our recent session in the back of the limousine and how much it had taken out of me, if he wanted me again, I would gladly submit.

“There’s coffee downstairs in the dining room waiting for you. Also, I had some food prepared. Please, help yourself and replenish your energy,” Alexander said, winking at me slightly when he said replenish your energy. “Make yourself at home. Feel completely free to explore my apartment. Nothing is off-limits to you here.”

Before I could say anything, he walked past me into the bathroom. He didn’t close the door behind him and I watched him step into the shower. I pushed back the urge to watch him wash off his impossibly sexy body and looked to the bed to see clothes laid out for me. They were nice clothes, high-end jeans and a long-sleeved shirt that looked very comfortable, yet still fashionable. Next to them were a pair of socks and panties.

I put on the clothes, once again a perfect fit, and I looked around the room. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with complex books on mathematics, physics, and philosophy. Alexander Strauss was a very well-read man. I walked by the shelves, studying the books closely and finding that while many of them were academic, he seemed to read everything that he could get his hands on. I marveled at the sheer volume of books he had accumulated and noticed his bedside table.

There were only two items on the bedside, a lamp, simple and black, and a framed picture. In the picture, a young boy stood with a woman that I understood to be his mother. I studied it for a moment, wondering what his relationship with her was like.

After setting down the picture, I looked around his room and saw another spiral staircase leading up to a closed-door. I walked up the staircase and opened the door. A room slightly smaller was sparsely furnished with only a desk and many locked file cabinets. His home office, obviously. I looked around briefly before descending the stairs and going all the way down to the lowest level. I walked past the elevator and down a hallway into an enormous kitchen.

Once again, I found myself at a loss for words. The kitchen was pristine. Granite tabletops sat atop the finest of woods. Cabinets stretched for miles. I could see no discernible fridge before realizing that it must have matched the cabinets, unlike my apartment with an ugly white fridge with a light that barely worked, if at all. There was an island in the middle of the kitchen that housed two sinks and a bunch of stove tops. Above the island hung an assortment of pots and pans worthy of the best restaurant kitchens in the world. I marveled at the kitchen that would be the envy of any professional chef when a voice startled me.

“Please, right this way Miss Dubois,” said a masculine voice.

I turned to see an older man dressed in a suit. He was completely bald. A thin mustache hung above smiling lips. This must have been Alexander’s butler, or perhaps his personal chef. While he had startled me, upon seeing his face my immediate apprehension melted away. He was a warm, friendly, short man. He led me down another hall perpendicular to the kitchen into another enormous room.

A gorgeous table sat in the middle of the room. Large chairs worthy of kings and queens lined the table, and one was pulled out, obviously for me. On the table was an assortment of foods awaiting me. Not an obscene amount, but much more than I could have eaten in one sitting. The bald man motioned me into a chair and bowed slightly. I sat down, feeling like I was in some sort of dream. He poured me a cup of coffee.

“Thank you so much,” I said.

“You’re very welcome,” he replied warmly. “If there’s anything you need Miss Dubois, please do not hesitate to ask. I can have the chef cook up just about anything your heart desires, so please don’t be shy about requests.” And with that, he disappeared from the dining room.

I poured a little milk into my coffee and drank it down quickly. It was hot down my throat, but felt good to drink. I drank an entire glass of water that was in front of me and I looked around at the assortment of food. I greedily filled the plate in front of me with delicious smelling chicken that was juicy and succulent with every bite. I practically inhaled a salad with beets and fine goat cheese that I chased with warm bread that made me groan with delight with every bite. The food was exquisite. It was almost as good as sex. Almost.

My stomach full, I leaned back in my chair and exhaled, satisfied. I looked at the assortment of dirty dishes before me and a little bit of anxiety filled me when I did not know what to do. I was hit with a pang of guilt when I thought of simply leaving them. Then I remembered that Alexander had helpers. They were probably paid much more than the temps that worked in his building. Yet I had no idea how to call them. I felt too shy to simply yell out, so I stood and looked around. The answer was simple then, I would deal with my own mess. I picked up all the dirty dishes and walked them down the long hall to the kitchen where I dumped them in the sink. I washed each one by hand and laid them next to the sink to dry.

From what seemed like miles way, I could hear Alexander walking around his room. He walked down the spiral stairs, dressed in a pair of tan slacks and a short sleeve button-up shirt. He wore no shoes or socks. I admired him for a moment. He looked relaxed, calm and at home in his condo. He looked over the clean dishes, smiled, and motioned me to come with him.

“Let’s sit in the living room, there’s a lot we need to talk about,” he said.

I walked into the open, spacious living room. Windows overlooked the city and I thought of his office. Staring out of the windows I could see the Strauss Engines building in the distance, the tallest buildings around it paling in comparison to its size. I turned back to Alexander, who sat on a large black leather couch, one of many that formed a large “u” shape in the living room. He watched me with an amused expression on his face. I sat down on the couch facing him. I closed my eyes briefly and paused to think about how crazy this whole situation was. It felt like years ago that I was simply a temp who was afraid of losing her job for mouthing off at the boss.

“You must have some questions about what just happened at the press conference,” he said. “I want you to ask me everything you want to know.”

“I guess I just don’t really understand what’s going on. I mean, a few days ago I was just a temp worker. I was a nobody at your company. Then, all of a sudden, I’m at a press conference with the CEO as his personal assistant. Why do you even need me?” I asked.

“I recognized something in you, this much I already told you. But there’s more. I need you to speak for me at certain business deals. I know I’m being watched.”

Alexander Strauss was being watched. I thought about it hard.

“I need you to act on my behalf, out of the watching eyes of rivals within the company.”

“Why do you need me to act in secret if you just made a press announcement?” I asked.

“My rivals within the company can put pressure on my business partners to not do deals with me if they know who I am talking to. I needed to make that press announcement; they already know something’s happening in the company and this just makes it public information. They can’t use that information against me. But I need you to operate for me in certain instances where I don’t want them to know what I am doing.”

I was going to be a secret weapon of Alexander Strauss against those who were seeking to destroy him. It was beginning to feel like some high stakes spy game. I couldn’t help feeling excited. I was important.

“As you probably know, my father, Maximillian Strauss, built this company from the ground up. He founded Strauss Engines. From my birth, I have been molded to inherit the company from him. Like the son of a king, I was born to take the throne. Every aspect of my life was orchestrated towards this purpose. Yet I’ve always felt more like my mother than my father. I’ve lived in my father’s shadow for the majority of my life. Even now, people coddle me because of my father and don’t tell me the truth because they fear the repercussions. Except you, of course.” He smiled when he said this.

Alexander was opening up to me. I wondered how many people he had told this to. His trust came so quickly I almost didn’t trust it. But as he continued speaking, I began to understand that when Alexander sees trustworthiness in someone, it is rare indeed. He confided in me because of an immediate assessment that I could be trusted.

“My mother was a doctor specializing in infectious diseases. Before marrying my father, she served in Doctors Without Borders. Even after she married my father, she continued in research to help people. To give back, Samantha. I studied mechanical engineering because I was forced to, but I managed to start a project in college to create cheap water filters to lower the incidences of cholera. I’ve always wanted to follow my mother’s footsteps but through my own passion for environmental engineering. Now, I have the opportunity to use the company that I was born to inherit to accomplish that dream. Millions will benefit. And if we’re able to commercialize the product, and have it sustain itself financially, then billions could be helped by our product.

“It could be dangerous for you Samantha, and I don’t just mean professionally,” he said, pausing to let the gravity of his words sink in. My excitement faded as the reality of my physical well-being being in danger set in. “My enemies could try to hurt you to get to me. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand. But are there people in your company who would actually use physical violence against me to hurt you? Do you think my life could be in danger?” I asked, trying not to sound scared.

“Well, not yet. You’re in no danger as of right now. But moving forward, there are things that I may ask you to do that are going to make you a vital person of interest for my rivals in the company to use. Especially if they suspect that we have any kind of intimate relationship. Even if they just think it’s strictly sex.”

The complete picture of why Alexander Strauss needed me was becoming clear. I was a nobody before, which made me perfect. But since Alexander had seen a spark in me that he believed could blossom into something very helpful to him, I could serve him well. And his rivals would have no idea who I was or where I came from. I was not on their radar. For now.

“I want you to consider all of this Samantha. You are going to help me as I save my father’s company from my competitors that are working outside and from within the company. I can’t let the company fall into the wrong hands. It would undo everything I have worked for. It would undo everything my father has worked for, and everything that Strauss Engines stands for and could one day accomplish.

“There’s going to be an attempt at a hostile takeover. It’s inevitable. But you are the only one I can trust to help combat that. Do you want to continue your new position, aware of the dangers and responsibilities?”

Alexander looked sexier than I had ever imagined a man could look. I felt a sexual attraction for him so strong that I could almost see it in the air. I wanted so badly to do everything he asked of me.

“I want to, yes. But Alexander, I’m not sure I will be able to,” I said honestly.

“Yes, you can. You are the only one who can. You stuck to your guns when it could have meant your livelihood and even possibly your future. I know I can trust you.”

“Then I’ll do it.”

“Good,” he said, a small, barely visible wave of relief going through him. “You should get some sleep. It’s a little early still, but you’re going to need it. My private jet will take you to Beijing in less than ten hours. You will be negotiating a deal with a supplier for the water filter. Take the master bedroom. My bed will be very nice for you to sleep on. I guarantee it.”

A flood of excitement and apprehension poured through me. Beijing? Negotiate a parts deal? Private jet? It all seemed too much. I worried I would never sleep again with all these new developments swimming in my head.

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he said, laughing.

I walked up the stairs, wishing him a good night in a slight daze and undressed. I layed on his bed and wrapped myself in his sheets, breathing in the smell of him. I wished he would come up and take me in his bed, ravage me and leave me without a single want or desire left unfulfilled. Yet before I could even begin to fantasize, sleep enwrapped me completely. I was exhausted, and Alexander Strauss’s bed was beyond comfortable.

Chapter Seven

When I woke, I had to keep pinching myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. A limousine ride to a private airport where Strauss Engines keeps its corporate jet didn’t seem real to me. Alone in a private jet, I sipped on expensive white wine while I awaited a filet mignon dinner to be finished cooking. Miles up in the sky, I looked down on a world that I hardly could believe was real anymore. I was on my way to Beijing, China. Sitting in the comfy leather chair, I looked over to see the flight attendant setting up the bed that I would get to sleep on shortly. It was a sixteen hour flight, but still, I had never even heard of sleeping while flying. I took another sip of white wine and relished the experience. The flight attendant disappeared and I was all alone.

I looked down at the dossier in front of me. The files stared back at me and I forced myself not to get overwhelmed. I read over the files at least a dozen times, but I reread them again. I wanted them to be imprinted in my brain when I went to the meeting. The terms I had to negotiate streamed in and out of my mind with every page. I finished my white wine and put down the empty glass. After I finished reading the dossier for the last time, I looked up and saw my glass was gone.