HUNT (The Billionaire's Rules, Book 13) (2 page)

Brayden was standing just inside the apartment
now, wearing the same outfit as earlier.
 
He must’ve come straight from the
office
, she decided.
 
He’d been
working late when she’d accidentally dialed him.

And now he was here, in all his glory.

“I still don’t know what’s going on,” she
said, trying to sound more aggravated than she truly felt.
 
“What are you doing showing up at my
apartment unannounced?
 
Why did you
keep calling my phone?”

“You called me first,” he said, stepping
into the living room with her.

She backed further into the room,
creating more space between them.
 
His presence was overpowering with just the two of them all alone like
this.

Lanie pulled her hair back behind her ear
and tucked it away.
 
She was very
aware of how she must look to him right now.

Wet stringy hair, damp, wearing her old
pajamas, no bra…no panties even.

Meanwhile Brayden was handsome, dashing,
with his blazer and his cool beard and those hazel eyes, the wicked smile.

Nothing about him was shoddy or messy or
bedraggled.

“That was an accident,” she said, moving
toward the kitchen.
 

“I don’t believe in accidents,” he
replied, stepping further into the living room now and beginning to peer
curiously into her boxes.

“Hey,” she said.
 
“Don’t snoop.”

He looked up at her once more.
 
“You’re awfully jumpy.”

“I’m getting some water.
 
Do you want a glass or not?”

“And friendly,” he mused, his eyebrows
rising.
 
“Sure, I’ll have a glass of
water, Lanie.”

“Great,” she muttered, and went about
pouring two glasses of tap water.
 
She
crossed the living room and handed him the glass.

As their fingers touched, Lanie felt that
same shock of excitement and warmth flooding her body as she’d felt earlier in
the day when he’d shaken her hand.

Her nipples stiffened and she could now
feel them poking through the worn material of her pajama top.

Quickly, she took a drink and turned away
from his penetrating gaze.
 
“Sorry I
don’t have any ice for the water,” she said, licking her lips.

“I like it just like it is,” he
commented.
 
“Wet.”

Her skin broke into gooseflesh and she
took another hasty sip of her water.
 
“You still haven’t told me why you’re here.
 
How did you even find me?”

“Cullen mentioned that you were moving
into the city and that his wife had sublet her apartment to you.
 
From there, I just needed to do a quick
Google search.
 
Technology is
amazing.”

“Well, it’s very rude to show up
unannounced at night to a stranger’s home.”

“We’re not strangers.”

“You know what I mean.”
 
When she turned to face him again, he’d
moved closer still.

Now she could see his hazel eyes more
clearly—and the flecks of green or was it blue?
 
They seemed to change as she stared into
them.

“And I think you know what I’m doing
here,” he told her.

She felt her cheeks flush as his words
and the tone of his voice registered.
 
“I—I can’t say that I do, Brayden.
 
Is it about the job?”

“Not even close,” he said, stepping
towards her again.
 

She felt butterflies stirring low in her
belly, and she could smell his scent now.
 
It was a clean, crisp smell, but very masculine and strong.

His body, upon closer inspection, was
more muscular than it had appeared at a casual glance.
 

His collar was slightly open, revealing
the swell of his toned chest and even a few stray hairs that were strangely
exciting to her.
 
As if he wanted
her to tempt her with just a little glimpse of what else might be there if he
ever chose to reveal himself further.

He stepped towards her once more, getting
closer and closer, and she could see his lips now, red and
voluptuous—sultry.
 
Those lips
were made for doing a lot more than just talking, she decided.

“Listen, it’s late and I’m in my pajamas,
so—“ She turned to get away and her glass slipped from her clumsy fingers
and dropped to the floor, shattering instantly.

In the same instant, Brayden had grabbed
her around the waist and pulled her completely off the floor, whisking her away
from the dangerous shards of glass as they flew in all directions.

His reflexes were catlike, almost
superhuman.

“Careful!” he said, as he pulled her away
from the broken glass to safety.
 
“You’re barefoot.”

“I’m okay,” she said.
 
“None of it hit me.”

The two of them stood there, looking at
the broken glass on the floor and the water stain.

And then Lanie realized that Brayden’s
hands were still on her hips, and he’d stopped looking at the mess she’d
made.
 
Instead, he was watching her.

Her nipples were even harder now.
 
But she didn’t even care.
 
She wanted him to see her like this.
 
And she liked the way he was looking at
her.

Had any man ever looked at her like
that?
 
She didn’t think so.

“I’m glad you’re not hurt,” he said
softly.

“Thanks for saving me,” she replied.

And then, his head was ever so slowly
inclining, and his face was moving closer and he was going to kiss her now.

Oh
my God
, she thought.

He’s
kissing me.
 
Brayden Forman is
really kissing me.

It was as if her little bathroom fantasy
had suddenly sprung to living, breathing reality.

His lips finally touched hers and she
felt her entire body go limp with desire and
excitement
and overwhelming attraction.

Brayden’s lips were hot, and soft and
seductive.
 
She could taste the mint
on his breath as he sucked her lower lip into his mouth, and then a moment
later his tongue was pushing into her mouth and his body was pressing into
hers.

His body was as hard as she’d imagined in
her fantasies.
 
No, harder.
 
Much harder.

His body was like rock.
 
Like metal.

Steel.

Her pussy flooded with wetness and she
felt herself readying to explode.

It was already too much.
 
The excitement building within her would
not be contained much longer, and she couldn’t bear to have him see how pent up
and inexperienced she was.
 

She pushed him off her, breathing
heavily.
 
“Wait.
 
Wait.
 
Stop.”
 
She licked her lips and swallowed as he
leaned backwards, his brow furrowed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

She didn’t want to admit that a mere kiss
from him had made her want to have another embarrassing orgasm.
 

“I—I can’t think straight with that
broken glass on the floor.
 
I’m
sorry.
 
I need to clean it up.”

“I’ll do that,” he said, immediately
walking past her into the kitchen.
 
“Where’s your broom and dustpan?”

She shook her head.
 
“I can do it, Brayden.”

“You’re barefoot,” he said.
 
“You stay there.
 
Let me handle this.”

Next thing she knew, Brayden Forman,
multi-millionaire founder and CEO of Hookup, was cleaning up the shards of
glass from her living room floor.

“You don’t have to do that,” Lanie said.

He quickly swept the glass onto the
dustpan, then brought the dustpan to the trash and dumped it out.
 
He grabbed a roll of paper towels and
cleaned the water off the floor, kneeling down,
his
muscular forearms visible as he worked diligently and efficiently.

And then Brayden was standing up, walking
back to the kitchen and disposing of the paper towels.
 

She listened as he washed his hands in
the sink and then came back into the living room.

“Now it’s safe,” he said, smiling at her
with that devil-may-care grin that told her it was hardly safe with him around.

He was dangerous.

And yet…she liked it, didn’t she?

“I think maybe you should go,” she said,
even though it was the last thing she wanted him to do.

Brayden stared at her, unmoved.
 
“I don’t think so.”

Lanie bit her lip and looked down.
 
“I’m not feeling comfortable.”

“Sometimes it’s good to be a little
uncomfortable in life,” Brayden told her, and then she could hear his footsteps
approaching once again.

 
“I don’t think this is one of those
times,” she whispered.

Already, she could feel her body
responding to him, revving like an overheating engine.
 
His physical proximity was too much, too
overwhelming, and it made her anxious, like she was out of control.

He
knows the effect he’s having on you.
 
And he likes it.

“I think this is exactly one of those
times,” Brayden said softly, as his hands grabbed her hips and pulled her into
his firm body.
 
“Look at me, Lanie.”

Hesitantly, she lifted her chin and
looked him in the eyes.

He stared at her with an intent desire
that was completely open and unashamed.
 

“Brayden,” she began.

“You have no idea what I want to do to
you right now,” he said.
 
“What I
would do to you, if only…”

“If only what?” she asked, realizing that
she wanted to know everything.

Wanted Brayden to teach her, to show her
exactly what he meant.

His hands were exciting, firm, completely
in charge as they slid down to the curve of her buttocks and pulled her even
closer.
 
Now she could feel him
pressing into her, his bulging crotch straining against the fabric that
separated them.

The heat between them was unmistakable,
and now she was thrumming again, the space between her legs was wet and
churning with pent up energy that was waiting to burst.

She could hardly breathe at all now.

“If only you were ready for me,” Brayden
said, his voice hardly a whisper.
 
He squeezed her ass with both hands.

Lanie moaned.
 
“Oh God,” she said, closing her eyes.

Her body wanted him so badly
,
it wasn’t even fair
.

This wasn’t right.
 
She was supposed to have more control of
herself.

And then Brayden’s soft lips were on her
neck, kissing her collarbone.
 
She
shivered and the goose bumps came back in full force all over her body.

She shivered as he kissed her again and
again.

His hands released her buttocks, and then
they were on her lower back, sliding down, his fingertips pushing beneath the
fabric of her pajama bottoms.
 
He
was sliding his palms down to her buttocks once again, only this time there was
just skin on skin.

His bare palms on her bare ass.

“Oh God,” she moaned again.

It felt so good.
 
So good.

Her pussy was dripping, and she began
climaxing, gritting her teeth and trying not to show him what was happening to
her at that instant.

Her entire body went rigid, locking up as
the heat released itself all throughout her insides, and it felt so incredible and
yet almost painful not to be able to yell or make a sound.

Lanie’s hands gripped Brayden’s blazer,
tightening as the orgasm quietly rippled through her body again and again.

His hands squeezed her bare flesh,
cupping each butt cheek in hand as his lips kissed the skin of her neck and
then her cleavage.

“You taste fresh and sweet,” he murmured,
as he kissed down and down.
 

His hands drifted up now, releasing her
butt from his grasp sliding out from her pajama bottoms, and then he was
suddenly unbuttoning the front of her pajama top.