My Billionaire Stranger (20 page)

“There, all clean, even though I love you dirty,” he says, kissing the back of my head. I try so hard not to react to the L word, but I stop giggling and meet his eyes in the mirror. We continue until I break the uncomfortable the silence, announcing that I need conditioner or we’ll be cutting my hair into a bob. I’ve never had a man tell me that he loved me, other than my dad of course. The L-word is going on my mental
Shit to worry about later
shelf. That shelf is getting heavy; I need some time to sort through all of these new experiences soon. The water surrounding us cools and it occurs to me that he is still extremely hard behind me and this bath has pretty much been all about me.

I wiggle my ass against his cock, “What about this, should we figure out a way to take care of you in the tub too?”

“I am fine Imani, the bath was for you.” Uh yea right, I’m not seasoned in sex but I know how things work and I’m not about to leave him this way…. again.

“No , let me take care of you too, I want to.”

“Imani, no, we can work on it later, I have a lot to do today, hop up so we can go rinse off in my shower and get your hair conditioned.” I turn around in his lap to face him, trapping him with my legs over his, he’s twice my size and could flip me easily if he really wanted to, but I think he’s not really
that
opposed to the idea of me taking care of business before he goes to work. I press my lips together and he looks at me with warning. Ignoring his unspoken threat I taking him in my hands, stare him down and reach under the water to cup his balls. He hisses between clenched teeth as I run my finger across the space between his balls and his glorious cock. A moan slips from deep in his chest. “Imani...” he says, with more warning in his voice. “You don’t listen very well lady.”

“What?” I answer innocently, raising my eyebrows.

“You…don’t…need, oh fuck it that feels so fucking good, yea just like that.” It’s his turn to grip the sides of the tub now, and I love that I can make him lose control like this,
me,
Imani Jefferson; inexperienced, innocent, previously-terrified-of-sex Imani. Working him with both hands now I slide them up and down and over the top, just the way he showed me in his shower until he comes with a shout, spurting hot and slick into my hands. That was absolutely just as satisfying for me as it was for him. Kneeling forward, I kiss him chastely on the nose. “
Now
you are ready for work.”

We smile at each other and we laugh. Standing up I help him out of the tub, which incidentally is a little more difficult than getting him in but we manage. Wrapped in warm, thick, towels from a heated rack, we make our way back to his bathroom. I’m sure the house staff is awake and around at this time of morning, so no streaking this time. We shower, and I sit on the vanity naked while I shave his face for him, he leans on his crutches while I work with my legs wrapped around his waist. When I’ve helped him dress he heads to the dining room for breakfast while I work on my hair.

“Don’t be too long.” 

“Why?” I ask.

“We have a full day, I have to go to Dominus and we are going shopping.”

“Shopping, what for?”

“You’ll see.”

“Uh oh, no way, if you’re thinking about shopping for me forget it, you spent a gazillion dollars on flowers yesterday, I can’t accept anything more.” I shake my hands back and forth in protest and take a step away from him. “Really Imani, I thought you’d finally learned my number one rule in life; I always get what I want, and I want to take you shopping, so we are going shopping, period. Dry your hair,” he bosses, leaving me with my mouth hanging open and frankly a little pissed. “Close that beautiful mouth Imani!” He calls over his shoulder, as he click clacks away. I turn to the mirror where I see my, mouth agape. I snap it shut and stomp my foot once in frustration. I love the flowers and I really don’t need anything else. I have no way of ever reciprocating his generosity. What could you possibly give to a man who has everything?

Chapter 26

“I want you to drive.” I’m surprised that he lets anyone other than Mr. Black. “What about Mr. Black?” I ask.

“I am sick of riding in the back, I really want to drive myself, but since I can’t that leaves you.”

“Oh well thanks for considering me as a last resort.” I snort, silently pointing at a plate of bacon Maria has prepared that’s out of my reach. He hands it over, but when I reach to take it he doesn’t let go.

“You are never a last resort Imani. Never,” he says seriously, releasing the plate. I was just kidding; Marcus needs to relax, even though it’s one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me. “And I love your smart mouth,” he adds with a wink. Oh god the wink, he simply can’t do that at the breakfast table.

“Maria is everything lined up for this evening?” he asks, turning his attention to her. “Yes everything will be ready.”

“What’s going on this evening?” I hope his plans include me, I really need to talk to him about going back to work at the hospital.

“We’re having dinner in the formal dining room tonight.” Bingo, perfect, I can bring it up from across the table, sensibly where he can’t touch me and change my mind. I need a clear head for this, he’s not going to take it easily, and I know he’ll do everything he can to manipulate me into continuing on as his private nurse. But I can’t keep taking money for doing nothing. I’ll stay here with him, as his girlfriend or whatever I’ve become but
not
as a nurse.

I plan on keeping my apartment, my family would
freak
if they knew I was living with a man I was supposed to be working for. And after only knowing him for a few weeks!

“What’s the occasion?” I ask.

“No occasion, I just want to dress up and have dinner with you. It’s still awkward going out, so I’m bringing Dominus to you.”

“Why thank you, Mr. Castillo.”

“You are most welcome Ms. Jefferson.”  After breakfast we bundle up to go to Dominus, it’s been a cold fall and I hate the cold.

“You’re pouting baby, I love it, if you add that little foot stomp thing I may have to take you back to bed.” Biting one side of his lip to stifling a laugh, he watches me put on my coat and scarf.

“I
hate
the cold!” I didn’t mean for him to see my foot stomp, it’s childish but I can’t help it.

“Let me take you someplace warm then.”

“Oh no, you spoil me every single day, I will not accept anything else, especially a trip, uh uh.” I shake my head and he lets out an exaggerated sigh while rolling his eyes. “You are very stubborn lady, I will break you though, you will learn.” I
am
very stubborn; maybe
he
needs to learn
that!
 

“There’s nothing to break Mr. Castillo, I
am
stubborn and if I need to learn something I will learn it
whenever
,
where ever
I want to,” I jut my chin out and cross my arms over my chest. Standing up he roars with laughter and adjusts his crutches As he moves past me he stops to kiss me on the forehead. Agh, he’s infuriating! I have to really resist the urge to stomp my foot! “Come on, you need to cool off before you drive me anywhere. I am afraid to let you behind the wheel while you are all worked up,” he calls over his shoulder as he makes his way through the double doors. And I can’t help it any more, I stomp. It’s just a tiny one, and there’s no way he could have seen.

“I saw that,” he says with his back to me, fucking hell he does know everything!

The car waiting for us is
not
the Maybach, far from it; this thing screams I AM DANGEROUS! It’s a Black two-door something or other. Getting him into a two-door car ought to be interesting with a cast.  I have no idea what kind of car it is until he hands me the keys. Ferrari, shit!

“Uh…first off are you
sure
you want me driving this, and second how are you going to get in that little thing?”

“Yes I am sure Imani, I trust you with my life. And you will be surprised, it’s bigger than you think, I’ll just push the seat back.” I hesitate at the doors of the house staring at the little monster car. “Mmm I dun no Marcus, if I mess it up or if anything happens I could never replace it.”

“Oh for shit’s sake Imani, get in the damn car! I told you I trust you, let’s go.” Damn, he really wants me to drive that thing. I’m sure it’s insured, and I’ve never had an accident; I will just be really careful. Ok, I’ve talked myself into it.

I help him move the seat back and watch as he folds his   sizable frame into the passenger seat before stepping around to the driver’s side. The interior is black, the car is black, and if it were night I think we would be invisible. I melt into the seat and look to Marcus for instruction, I’ve never seen a steering wheel like the one in front of me and I have no idea how to even start this thing.

“Put the key in the ignition, press the red start button for a second,” he informs me. I do as he says and nearly jump out of my skin.

“Shit!!” I yell when he growl of the engine vibrates through my entire body; I’m really considering changing my mind now. 

“Good, it’s all right- that is just how it sounds baby,” he says in a futile attempt to sooth me. “Now before anything else, seatbelt.” Ok check, fucking seatbelt. I don’t wanna do this. “Now look at the steering wheel Imani, all of the controls are there, everything you need is at your fingertips. Adjust the seat, it’s set for me and you are too far away. Ok now most importantly be very gentle on the gas pedal; it’s extremely sensitive.” No, no, no, no…. this isn’t good! Why, why did I wear heels today? Death gripping the wheel, I ever so gently put my toes on the gas and thankfully we move out of the driveway without dying. “See, you are a natural.” He smiles broadly at me and strokes my  arm closest to him. “Don’t touch me, I’m totally freaked out right now, this car is a monster!!” I yell at him. “All right, all right baby, I am over here, you are over there, do your thing. You know the way to Dominus don’t you?”

“Yes,” I answer.

“Ok then let’s go to work,” he says, comfortably as if I were driving a minivan. I’m a mess of nerves, scanning the road, checking mirrors incessantly, and my leg aches from the effort of keeping my toes gently on the pedal while wearing heels. We can’t get there soon enough for me.

I pull into the parking lot at Dominus and realize that after getting used to it, I actually enjoyed driving the monster Ferrari. It’s still too much power for my taste; I can’t wait for Marcus to get that damned cast off of his leg so he can drive. He directs me to his parking spot where I carefully pull in between two cars. We enter through the back again and head down to his office. It’s quiet this morning, I’m not even sure anyone is here yet.

“Anybody else come in this early?”

“No I think it is just us for now, cook will be here shortly though, he likes to get things going and organized before anyone else arrives to get in his way.”

“Cook, as in the chef?”

“Yes, I am the only one that calls him that anymore I suppose. He has been with me since I opened the first Dominus in Italy, he demands respect in the kitchen, I like that. He is my executive chef, everyone else calls him Mr. Benassi.”

“How long are we going to be here?”

“A couple of hours, you brought your iPad didn’t you?” Of course, I don’t leave home without it, but I’m not in the mood to sit around and read all morning, I really need to go to the gym. I wish I had thought to bring a change of clothes; I could have taken myself. But even if I had brought a bag I would never drive that car alone, so reading it is.

“Yea, I can read, or buy shoes.” Now that sounds much more appealing, shoes are my weaknesses. I think I’ll look up lingerie while I’m at it, that’s something I can surprise him with, maybe a little payback for the flowers…and that teddy bear.

“We are going shopping later, don’t forget,” He says as we enter his masculine office and he arranges himself behind the mammoth desk. I help him adjust his pillows and plop on the couch.

“So are you saying I shouldn’t buy shoes?” I ask.

“No, you can buy all the shoes you want, you have excellent taste in shoes by the way,  I love those.” He nods toward my feet. He likes my shoes huh? I wonder how much he knows about women’s shoes but I don’t ask I might not like the answer. I need to leave him alone anyway;  the sooner he gets done with his work the sooner we can get out of here.

“Thank you.” I smile and pull out my iPad to commence shopping. A couple of pairs of shoes and some extremely hot lingerie purchases later, I’ve only killed an hour and I’m bored. I could read a book but I have the urge to talk to Laney, maybe I could go outside in the car and sit to talk to her so I don’t bother Marcus. I look up to ask him for the keys and find him leaning back in his chair one elbow on the arm rest with his chin on his hand and his head back regarding me with those uniquely green speckled eyes. Sex radiates from every pore in his body.

“You’re not getting any work done.”

“Mmm, no I am not. I underestimated the power of your presence, I thought I could work with you here.”

“Oh I’m distracting you am I?” I sass and he nods his head in affirmation.

“You are so damned beautiful. I have done nothing in my life, to be worthy of you.” I thought we were messing around again but he’s serious, and wrong.

“Don’t say that,” I say softly and he frowns at me.

“Why, it’s true?”

“Because I’m damaged Marcus, unfixable.”

“Come here.” I cross the room and curl up in his lap, tucking my head under his chin like a child, as he wraps his arms around me stroking my arm up and down. “You. Are. Not. Damaged. Do you understand me? Seriously, I cannot believe you just said that, if anyone is damaged in this relationship it is me. And you are not unfixable, because you are not broken. Sound familiar?” His arms tighten and he kisses the top of my head.

“Yea,” I murmur.

“All right then, I’m always right yes?”

“Yes.”

“And I always get what I want yes?”

I roll my eyes. “Yes.”

“Good then we understand each other perfectly. I say you are not damaged and I say I want you, so there you have it.” He ends his pep talk with a gentle slap to my still-tender butt and a thrust of his hips to encourage me to stand.

“Can I have the keys to the car? I want to call Laney but I don’t want to disturb you.”

“On the desk.” He juts his chin in the direction of the keys. “Don’t drive it without me though,” he warns.

“Yea well you don’t ever have to worry about that.” He chuckles and I grab my coat to go outside. It’s so damn cold; I really hate the idea of going to sit in a cold car but I figure I’ll just start the engine to get the heat going.  Sliding into the seat I review Marcus’s earlier instructions. Ok, key in the ignition, press the red button. The car roars to life! Fuck! I almost wet myself! Now how to turn on the radio, yea that only takes me approximately five minutes to figure out! ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay drifts from the speakers making me think of Marcus and then of myself; we could both use some fixing.  After a few more minutes of carefully looking at the controls I conquer the heat and take out my phone to dial Lana.

“Hey! Damn woman, bout time you decided to call me back!” Lana yells when she answers and I pull the phone away from my ear.

“Sorry, I’ve been busy.”

“Uh yea…I’ll bet you’ve been. Busy getting it on with that hunk of a man you’re working for girl!” God, she always just blurts out what she's thinking, zero filter. She hit the nail on the head though, that’s exactly what I’ve been up to.

“About that, I’m going to tell him tonight that I can’t work for him anymore, I need to go back to the hospital.”

“What for? He’s paying you three times your salary and the set up sounds pretty sweet to me, why would you wanna go and ruin a great gig?”

“It’s just wrong, it
feels
wrong. I’m not doing anything to earn that money. I pass him the occasional sleeping pill and prop his leg up here and there but I’m just not
doing
anything,” I answer with frustration before adding. “And…. we’re sleeping together…taking money from him makes me feel like a whore.” “

“Ah shit, you’re sleeping together, I knew it!” Leave it to Laney to pick out that part of the conversation to concentrate on. “So how’s the sex? Is he a machine like I said? I know he is, with a body like that he has to be. And you have to explain how you maneuver around that cast, damn woman I 
knew
you were up to something!”

“Lana, I need help here, listen to me, you’re not listening to me!”

“Sorry, sorry, I’m to listening to you, listening to you talk stupid. What if you were married to him and you gave him some pills and propped his pillows, he’d be paying the bills and you’d be takin care of him, that don’t make you a whore. What’s the difference? It’s all relationship shit, give and take woman, you know.” “Married? Well that would be legal, there would be a marriage certificate.” Why the hell is she talking about marriage? “You’re not a whore Imani, shit you’re the furthest thing from a whore I’ve ever known. He
wants
you there, so he’s using the nurse thing as an excuse to keep you to himself, like
all
to himself. And ya know… whatever…. if you get along and he treats you good why go rockin the boat?”