Bought by a Millionaire (12 page)

He twisted the hand between her legs, inserting a second finger and heightening his touch, causing her to bite down on her lower lip to keep from crying out.

“—hands,” she finished when she was once more capable of speech.

The corners of his mouth curved up in a wicked grin. His fingers continued their cruel movements. “Is that a complaint?”

She swallowed hard, shaking her head from side to side on the pillow. “No, no.” The air whooshed from her lungs like an unknotted balloon. “Just an…observation.”

“Maybe I should skip the introduction and go straight to the main attraction.”

It sounded more like a threat than an offer of seduction, and Shannon braced herself, knowing that Burke could turn her inside out if he put his mind to it. What he'd already done to her had her blood pumping like a broken water main and every nerve ending thrumming with pent-up energy.

Shifting his sturdy frame to lie more fully over hers, he captured her mouth in a breath-stealing kiss at the same moment he slid his hand free and replaced it with the long, thick heat of his arousal.

Shannon threw back her head and moaned against his lips. Bringing her knees up, she locked her legs around Burke's waist, drawing him closer, deeper with each powerful thrust. Her nails raked his back as she tilted her hips. Meeting his movements, straining toward the delicate, building sensations rushing through her body.

Her breathing grew faster and faster, her mouth falling open as Burke released her lips, digging his teeth delicately into the tender flesh between neck and shoulder. She felt him panting against her, joined him in the desperate pursuit of oxygen as completion hovered just beyond their reach.

Without warning, she heard a scream…and realized it was her own. Surge after surge of the most intense orgasm she'd ever experienced washed over her. Clutching Burke even more tightly in her grasp, she held him to her sweating, pulsating body and climaxed again as he pounded into her one final time, stiffened above her and found his own completion.

 

She didn't know how much time had passed when her head finally stopped spinning, but she was pretty sure her eyes were now facing the other direction. In those last seconds of the most powerful pleasure she'd ever known, Burke had sent her eyeballs whirling around like fruit on a slot machine.

And she would pay a heck of a lot more than a quarter to have him do that again…just as soon as she recovered from their previous encounter.

With a low, heartfelt groan, he heaved his weight off of her prone form and rolled to the side. The bed wasn't wide enough for them to lie shoulder to shoulder, so he propped himself on an elbow, wedged between her and the painted plaster wall.

“I was wrong,” he murmured. He brushed the back of his fingers along the line of her flushed cheek. “I thought you
were beautiful in the throes of passion, but you look even more amazing afterward.”

Letting her head fall to one side, she forced her eyes open just enough to peer at him through the cracked lids. She shivered as the same fingers that had caressed her cheek and tangled through her perspiration-damp hair traveled the slope of her shoulder and length of her arm. Raising her hand, he twined their fingers together, studying them as though they were as fascinating as the constellations.

“You don't look so bad yourself,” she offered. Her throat felt like sandpaper and she wished she had the energy to go for a glass of water. Unfortunately, she barely had the energy to stay awake.

Burke's lips twitched in a devilish little half smile. “Oh, yeah?”

He looked so adorable, she couldn't help grinning in return. Twisting slightly in his direction, she imitated his pose, propping her head on her bent arm. “Yeah. All rumpled and sexy. You should seriously consider going into work like this. The women in the boardroom would give you anything you asked for.”

His low chuckle shook the bed frame and vibrated all the way to the tips of her toes.

“That would be interesting to witness.” He tightened his grip on her hand. “Any chance you'd come along to charm the men in the meeting?”

“Sure,” she answered, rolling her eyes and sticking out her tongue for a brief moment. “I'm sure they would all be swept off their feet by a pregnant lady waddling naked into their negotiations.”

Rubbing the knuckles of their linked hands against the taut flesh of her swollen abdomen, he said, “It would certainly catch my attention. Pregnant ladies turn me on.”

“Is that right?”

“Mmm-hmm. Of course, I'm very particular. The mother-to-be has to have long, curly auburn hair, creamy porcelain skin, and six tiny cinnamon freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose.” He tapped each one with the tip of his finger.

“Women with heartburn and ankles the size of watermelons turn you on? You are a sick, perverted man.”

“Say what you will, but I can't wait to see how big you get. If you have heartburn, I'll bring you a glass of milk. And when your ankles swell, I'll make you lie down so I can give you a nice, relaxing foot massage.”

“Are you going to take on the contractions and delivery, too?” she asked cheekily.

Instead of laughing along with the joke, though, his expression went flat and he answered in complete seriousness. “I would if I could.”

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she forced a small smile for his benefit and whispered softly, “I know you would.”

“But you don't have to worry. I've already lined up the best care available in the city. If anything goes wrong—which it won't, I'm sure it won't—I'll fly you anywhere in the world you and the baby need to be, or fly in any other doctors you need to see.”

“Thank you. That makes me feel very safe and confident. But I'm sure it won't be necessary. I feel wonderful, and Dr. Cox assures me everything is progressing normally.”

They fell into silence then. Burke's brow remained furrowed in thought while she considered their easy banter and the emotions that were swirling around inside her.

This felt so nice, the cuddling and intimate, easy, teasing conversation after making love. She wanted so much for it to
mean something, to be the first step toward a lasting relationship. And yet, she was afraid to put too much stock in a simple back-and-forth about his attraction to pregnant ladies and what she might look like in her third trimester.

“I hired an interior designer,” he said suddenly, disturbing their quiet rest. “I thought she could redecorate the guest room, turn it into a nursery.”

Her mind flashed to the bedroom she'd slept in while staying at his penthouse. Then she pictured it in pastel colors, with clowns on the wall and a teddy bear sitting in the corner of a pristine white crib.

Or maybe professional decorators didn't go with teddy bears and clowns anymore. For all Shannon knew, the baby would end up with a mobile of miniature abstract art pieces twirling above his head.

“She took a look at the room, gave me an estimate, and faxed over a few preliminary drawings,” Burke continued. A beat later, he said, “I fired her that same day. I didn't want a stranger decorating a room for our child. I wanted you—
us
—to do it. I want your input every step of the way. I even think I want to paint the walls and hang the curtains myself.”

He chuckled. “I'll probably paint a window closed or bang my thumb with the hammer, but I don't care. I still want to do it.”

His gray eyes grew dark, his face going serious. His fingers flexed around hers until she thought he might cut off the blood supply.

“Come home with me, Shannon. Marry me and raise the baby with me. Have more babies with me. Help me decorate a nursery and buy a bigger house and pick out a puppy when the time comes.”

His voice almost shook while he spoke, his tone as earnest and honest as she'd ever heard it. But he hadn't said the one
thing she needed to hear. He hadn't told her
why
he wanted her, and she desperately, desperately needed the words, needed to know he loved her as much as she loved him.

“I'll go home with you, and marry you,” she said slowly, meeting and holding his intense gaze, “if you can answer a single question for me. And you have to answer it honestly.”

A flash of excitement passed over his hopeful expression, but he merely nodded in agreement. “Ask me anything.”

She swallowed past the lump of fear lodged in her throat, knowing that his response had the power to light up her life…or send her into a pit of despair. But either way, she had to know. She couldn't spend the rest of her life with him if he didn't love her, and she wouldn't risk sending him away if there was a chance he did.

With her heart ricocheting against her chest cavity and palms sweating like Niagara Falls, she licked her lips and said quietly, “Do you love me?”

The blank look that came into his eyes and the almost deafening silence that followed were all the answer she needed. Before he saw how much his lack of reaction hurt her, she untangled her hand from his hold and jumped out of bed.

“Shannon, wait.”

But she didn't. Grabbing an afghan from the floor, she wrapped it around her bare shoulders and stalked across the hardwood floor to the bathroom. She didn't reply, and she didn't look back.

Even inside the small room, with the door closed, she heard the bedsprings squeak as Burke rolled to his feet. A second later, he tapped on the door.

“Shannon, please. Let me explain.”

Exchanging the worn afghan for the thick terry cloth robe hanging on the back of the door, she stood at the bathroom sink, her hands braced on the cold porcelain while she stared
at her pale, barren reflection in the mirror. Her hair was tousled, her eyes heavy-lidded and so dark the natural green seemed almost black.

If someone looked only that close, they would think her well-loved. And she had been, only a few minutes ago.

But upon closer inspection, they would also notice the lack of color in her complexion and the bleakness of her gaze. She was shaking, and if she let go of the sink edge, she suspected the floor would rush up to meet her faster than a speeding bullet.

“Shannon,” came Burke's muffled voice. “Come out so we can talk. Please.”

The blood felt like ice water in her veins and she couldn't have spoken if she'd tried. She just wanted him to go, to leave her alone with her pain and disappointment and broken dreams.

“All right,” he went on, frustration lacing his every word. “If you won't come out, then I'll stand right here and have my say.”

She heard him blow out a breath, the boards beneath his feet creaking as he shifted his stance.

“I'm sorry I hurt you, Shannon. Your question caught me off guard…though I guess it shouldn't have. I should have realized that asking you to marry me would have you thinking along those lines.”

Taking an unsteady step backward, she sat on the closed lid of the toilet and pried her fingers one by one from the lip of the sink.

“You wanted an honest answer, so I'm going to be as truthful as I know how to be. I don't know, Shannon. I don't know if I love you because I've never been in love before. I have no idea what it's supposed to feel like or what that particular emotion entails. I do know I care for you and enjoy being with you. I want you, in my life and in my bed, and I want us to raise the baby together.”

Tears streaked down her cheeks. Her chest felt so tight, she could barely breathe, and she had to keep her hand over her mouth to keep from making a sound.

His sincerity touched her, and she knew he was being completely honest with her. As honest as he knew how to be, at least.

And though that meant a lot to her, it wasn't enough. She wasn't trying to be cruel or demanding, but she knew the meaning of the word love and couldn't bring herself to marry a man who didn't.

What if his feelings toward her changed? What if she invested all of her time and energy into building a relationship, a family with him, only to discover he could never love her? Or worse, for him to finally figure out the definition of the word with another woman.

It would crush her. Kill her.

Better to sever ties now, finish out their business arrangement—which would be painful enough to deal with—and try to let the wounds on her heart heal.

Pushing herself up, she walked to the door and pulled it open, heedless of her runny nose and damp cheeks. Burke looked just as tormented, his mouth turned down in a frown, his eyes narrowed with uncertainty and concern.

He reached out tentatively to rub a hand down her terry-covered arm. “Are you all right?”

She shook her head, very far from all right. Fresh tears welled, dripping from her lashes.

“I appreciate everything you've said,” she told him in a wavering voice. “And if things were different, I would be happy to marry you, live with you, build a family with you. But somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you, and because I love you, I can't settle for less than everything from you.”

“Shannon…”

She clenched and unclenched her hands inside the pock
ets of her robe to keep from reaching out to touch him. Squeezing her eyes shut, she took a deep breath and forced herself to get through the rest. “Don't, please. It's too hard already. I think you should just leave.”

He stood where he was for another minute, inhaling and exhaling raggedly. Then he turned, crossing her small apartment to gather his clothing. He took only enough time to climb into his pants before retrieving his shoes and coat and slamming the door behind him.

As soon as he was gone, her bones seemed to melt. She fell back against the doorjamb, then slid down, joining the pieces of her broken heart in a pile on the floor.

I
t was eight days and counting since he'd walked out of Shannon's apartment, and every damn one of them felt like a millennium. He hadn't seen or spoken to her, and she'd even managed to reschedule her last prenatal appointment without telling him so that he missed it.

A part of him understood Shannon's decision to pull away and keep her distance. To make him keep his. He couldn't give her what she needed—a declaration of undying love—and she wanted nothing less.

He only hoped she knew that if it was within his power, he would have told her what she wanted to hear. He could offer her money and jewels, cars, clothes, houses, trips around the world. Being married to him would give her power and prestige.

Instead, what she wanted cost nothing. Three little words that he couldn't in good conscience utter when he had no idea what they meant.

In his experience, love was simply a word, like any other in the dictionary. People tossed it around, using it to flatter, persuade, manipulate.

Love between a parent and child was one thing. That was one form of the emotion that—in most cases, anyway—could be trusted. Even though he'd never experienced such a thing with his own parents, he already loved the baby Shannon was carrying, completely and unconditionally. And he would make sure the child felt the strength of that love every day of his or her life.

But adults, women especially, were a different story. There had been several women in his past who'd told him they loved him. Once or twice, he'd even begun to fall for the sugared lie. Until he'd realized they were only telling him what they thought he wanted to hear, what they thought would get them more expensive gifts, a credit card on his account, or maybe even a ring on their finger.

From those women, he'd learned
I love you
was an easy phrase to throw out…something said on a whim to appease your partner, or with careful planning to exploit him.

And that was why he couldn't say it to Shannon. In the short span of their relationship so far, he'd been completely honest with her. He might want her, but he didn't want to lie to her.

Burke dropped his pen on top of the thick contract on his desk and rubbed hard at his eyes.

Why, then, did he believe Shannon's declaration? Before she'd kicked him out of her apartment, she'd told him she loved him. At that moment, his heart had squeezed, but he'd pushed it aside and concentrated all of his effort on keeping his feet under him, finding his clothes and leaving without letting her see how much pain he was really in.

Later, he'd mocked her words. How could she say she
loved him in one breath and throw him out in the next? How could she claim to love him, but deny him everything he wanted in the world—her, their child, a future?

And then he'd come full circle, his heart not only squeezing, but growing and swelling and threatening to burst. Just as he'd never lied to her, he was sure Shannon had never lied to him. If she said she loved him, then there was a damn good chance she meant it…and meant it in a way he was only beginning to understand.

But could he love her?
Did
he love her?

A sharp knock on the door and Margaret's uninvited entrance slammed the brakes on his already scattered thoughts.

“I said no interruptions,” he snapped, his brow furrowing in a frown. He'd been doing that a lot lately, barking and growling at anyone who dared approach him. It was a wonder he still had any employees at all, especially Margaret, who didn't take well to being snarled at.

“You've said a lot of things this week,” she retorted. “I've learned to ignore you. For the second time, your two o'clock is here and doesn't look like he wants to wait much past two-fifteen to see you.”

He checked his watch only to find it was already ten minutes after the hour. Lord, where was his head lately? His business had never suffered so much as in the past few days, when he found himself thinking more about Shannon and what an idiot he was than about the incredibly lucrative deals cluttering his desk.

This was ridiculous. He would never get past these feelings blocking him until he confronted Shannon and came clean with himself.

Pushing his chair away from the desk, he grabbed his coat and started for the door. “I have to go. Tell Peterson I'll add ten percent to my offer if he agrees to come back next week.”

He heard Margaret mutter, “It's about time,” as he waved off an aggravated Peterson and crossed the lobby to his private elevator.

Twenty minutes later, palms sweating against the steering wheel and heart hammering in his chest, Burke pulled up to the curb of Shannon's college campus and cut the engine of his Mercedes. He was probably parked in a fire lane, but couldn't have cared less.

Jumping from the car, he scanned the names on the sides of the buildings, looking for the one where Shannon should be finishing up her English literature class.

In a few short months, she had come to mean everything to him. She was the first person he thought of when he woke in the morning, and his last thought of the day before drifting off to sleep. She filled his heart and mind and soul; quite simply, he didn't want to live in a world without her.

He didn't know why it had taken him so long to admit it, but now that he had, he wanted to shout it from the rooftops. If only he could find Shannon and convince her to give him another chance.

 

Shannon gave a moan of frustration as her oversize handbag swung forward and knocked the books out of her hands. She'd never had this kind of problem before her pregnancy had begun to show.

As she crouched down to pick up her things from the sidewalk, a second pair of hands reached out and collected them for her. Familiar, masculine hands.

Lifting her head, she found herself staring into Burke's wide gray eyes. Without a word, he helped her to her feet and enveloped her in his warm embrace. Students passed around them, casting curious stares, but he didn't seem to notice or care.

Running his fingers through her hair, he pressed his lips to
her forehead and closed his eyes for a brief moment. “I'm so glad I found you. I have to talk to you. There's something you need to know.”

He sounded so serious, and his sudden appearance on campus was enough to make her fear what he was about to tell her.

“My mother,” she breathed, a wave of panic washing over her. “Is she—?”

“No, no, your mother is fine. This is about us.”

Framing her face with both hands, he tipped her head back and looked directly into her eyes. “I love you. It took me forever to figure out what that meant, but now I know. Ever since you kicked me out of your apartment, I've been thinking about it, trying to define all these feelings whirling around inside me. And then this morning, I was sitting in my office, being miserable, when it finally clicked.”

His hands moved to her shoulders, kneading the flesh of her upper arms. “I'm an idiot. I should have figured this out so much sooner. But it wasn't until I thought I'd lost you that I realized how much you mean to me. I understand now what you were trying to tell me back at your apartment when you said you loved me but couldn't be with me unless I loved you back.”

The sheer intensity of his expression sent Shannon's stomach on a bungee cord to her toes. He looked so stark and open, so honest and desperate for her to believe him.

And she wanted to. Every fiber of her being screamed for her to accept his words, throw herself into his arms, and live happily ever after. Her brain, however, warned her to take it slow. Hear him out and decide if he was telling her the truth or simply telling her what he thought she wanted to hear.

“Burke,” she began.

“No, don't say anything yet. Let me finish. After that, if you still want to walk away, I'll let you. I'll hate it, and it will leave me a shell of a man, but I won't try to stop you.”

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she nodded. She was almost afraid to hear the rest, but knew she had to. If he truly meant what he was saying, if he really did love her, she wanted to hear every word. She wanted to memorize them, brand them on her soul, and then throw herself into his arms and tell him how very much she loved him, too.

But she needed to be sure. Needed to know he was sure, and that he understood exactly what impact those three little words would have on her. Because walking away from him the first time had been the hardest thing she'd ever done in her life. She didn't think she had the strength to do it again.

“I've always thought telling someone you loved them was just a way to manipulate them, a way to gain control over their lives and their emotions. That's the only experience I've ever had with the words, and I didn't have parents who made it a point to teach me differently. But now I realize how wrong I was. Love means
loving
someone. Worrying about them, caring about them, wanting them to be happy. I love you, not because you're carrying my child or because I think that's what you want to hear. I love you for your beauty, both inside and out. For your sense of humor, the caring you show your mother and the caring you want to show the little kids you'll watch over when you become a kindergarten teacher. I love you for the strength and courage it took to answer my ad for a surrogate mother, and to tell me you loved me even though you weren't sure I loved you in return.”

He loosened his grip on her arms and let his hands slide down to hers. Linking their fingers together, he gave her a squeeze. “I
love
you, Shannon. I won't ever take that back or change my mind. I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you. I want to raise this baby and a dozen others with you. I want you to be my wife, my partner, my lover, my friend. And no matter what the gossips say or the tabloids
print, I swear I will never give you reason to doubt me or my love for you.”

She watched the muscles in his throat flex as he swallowed and took a step back, releasing her completely. He stood with his arms at his sides, awaiting her reaction.

For a moment, she couldn't move. The tears prickling behind her eyes were definitely tears of happiness, and her heart felt like a hot air balloon, ready to take flight and soar up above the clouds. But her hands and feet seemed to have turned to stone.

If this was a dream, she never wanted to wake up. Burke Bishop, the man she'd fallen in love with almost immediately and learned to love more deeply over time, was standing in front of her, telling her he loved her, too.

He could have said the very same thing eight days ago to appease her sense of romance and get her to accept his proposition of marriage. He could have claimed to love her, put a ring on her finger and had everything just the way he wanted.

Instead, he'd walked away. And it meant so much more to her that he had. Because now she knew, was absolutely certain, that he really did love her. The stark hope and affection in his eyes couldn't be contrived.

Moving toward him, she stepped straight into the circle of his arms, which came up to wrap around her ever-expanding waist.

“I love you, too,” she told him, meeting his gaze with a supremely confident one of her own. “For your sharp mind and handsome face. For your decision to bring a child into the world and love it even before you'd met the right woman. I even love you
despite
your wealth and the fact that you're considered Chicago's most eligible bachelor.”

He chuckled, his eyes damp with emotion. “I'll do my best to live it down.”

Toying with the hair at the nape of his neck, she grinned.
“I hope so. I don't think I'd do very well as a flashy society wife. And I definitely want you for my husband, my partner, my lover and my friend.”

“Does that mean you'll marry me?”

Shannon didn't think anything could make her happier than hearing Burke say he loved her. But with his official marriage proposal, and love shining down on her from his storm-gray eyes, her heart swelled three times larger in her chest.

“Oh, yes. I will absolutely, positively marry you.” She ran the flat of one hand over the slight mound of her belly. “The sooner the better, if you don't mind.”

Covering her hand with his own, they stroked the swell of their child together.

“Believe me, I don't mind. I've only been trying to finagle you to the altar for the past month now. It can't happen fast enough for me.”

He brushed a smudge of dirt from her cheek, his mouth lifted in a sexy half smile. “I really do love you, Shannon. The day you walked into my office was the luckiest day of my life.”

“I really love you, too. And I think it was the luckiest day of
both
our lives.”

The child inside her womb picked that very moment to give a small but hearty kick, the first she'd felt so far in her pregnancy. And she was thrilled Burke was here to experience it with her.

With a wide smile, she met his glance. “I think our child approves.”

“I'm glad,” Burke murmured. Then he leaned in and sealed their love with a kiss.