Pleasing Him: The Complete Series (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (11 page)

“We shouldn’t do what?” he whispered in her ear. His mouth was so close she could feel heat emanate from his lips as just before they crashed onto her ear lobe.

And his package.
Oh my, that package of his
. Just moments ago, she didn’t think she’d ever feel his thick, perfect cock again, especially after the rules he had set forth. But she was sure glad to be feeling it right now- it was so big, so hard... Taylor didn’t consider herself to be very superficial when it came to guys and their body parts, but the fact that Colton’s body was fit for the cover of a magazine wasn’t exactly helping her to make wise decisions right now.

It’s not too late, I can still get out of this,
she fantasized
.

“We shouldn’t do
this
,” she said.

Her lingerie top barely hung down over the tops of her thighs as it was, but he insisted on lifting it up and over her panties as if it was all his to do what he pleased with. “You mean this?” he said as he pulled the satin lingerie up to her navel.

She looked down and saw the bulge in his jeans. It looked like the zipper was about to explode from the pressure of his erection trying to make its way out.

Why was she behaving like this for a man she still hardly knew? It had been years since she’d been with another guy, and now here she was, giving her body up to a total stranger three times in a single week.

This is bad. Really, really bad.

But things were about to get even worse. She practically fainted as the next four words poured out of his mouth and swirled around her brain…

“Do you trust me?”

“What do you mean?” she responded with a breathy tone.

His voice sunk down another octave. “You know exactly what I mean.”

Her speech was barely audible as she said, “No really, I…I don’t…”

The billionaire author then reached around and gripped both of her ass cheeks with his wide palms and long fingers. He slid her entire body towards him, so that her breasts were pressed up against his chest.

“Jesus, Colton,” she moaned.

Taylor wasn’t petite by any means, but she wasn’t overweight either. But the way Colton handled her, like he was effortlessly sliding an empty paper bag towards him… something about this fact drove her wild inside.

Their noses were now just millimeters apart, if that, and her breasts had no room to move as they pressed firmly into his broad chest. Colton’s warm, salty breath was enough to intoxicate her body, mind and soul all at once. But she knew it wasn’t going to end there- not today.

Colton himself took in a quick gasp of air. It wasn’t like him to behave like this, as if somehow he too was feeling something so intense that even the big, bad billionaire was thrown off kilter for a moment.

He reached around her back and grabbed both of her soft wrists. Then he stared into the center of her eyes. Her first instinct was to deny him any access into her own private world, but unfortunately there was no place for her to hide right about now.

So instead she surrendered to his gaze, staring back into this man’s alluring eyes and taking note of every beautiful nuance contained within them… including the slightly detectable strain.

Truth was, his eyes had magical powers of their own, and one of those powers included the ability to confuse the utter hell out of her. He looked hungry for her of course, but there was something else behind that look of his, something raw or soft or tormented or…

Did Colton Marcus have a weak spot?

She just couldn’t pinpoint it, although she was determined to figure it out sooner than later.

She squinted her own eyes, desperately exploring him inside and out in order to get a better read on this man.

Colton, however, would have none of that from her. Not yet anyways. She swore his eyes suddenly turned the color of scorching hot red flames. His entire demeanor had instantly shifted right before her very eyes. Maybe she had made the giant mistake of exploring too deeply, or looking too closely… Whatever tenderness they had just shared had seemingly spontaneously combusted.

“I’m gonna tie you up and fuck your brains out,” he sputtered.

His words shocked her at first- it wasn’t exactly the most poetic gesture. But she didn’t care anymore. Taylor was done pretending to herself as though
there anything more behind those eyes of his than pure lust.

She had no choice but to surrender to her own desire to have him inside of her now more than ever.

And that level of recklessness scared the absolute hell out of her.

Colton slowly tied both of her wrists behind her back using the red silk hanky. “Are you ready for me, Taylor?”

As twisted as all of this was, especially for a girl who’d always believed she had to marry a man before she’d surrender control of her body like this, she just couldn’t help herself when it came to Colton Marcus.

Their eyes met just before she answered him. His narrow gaze flickered as he waited. “Yes, I’m ready,” she said.

Although she couldn’t wrap her arms around him because her hands were tied with Colton’s hanky, the look in her eyes said it all… for however long this encounter was going to take, she was his.

Completely his.

“Take me,” she said. It was the first time in her life she had ever given herself over so completely to another man like this.

Then something bad happened. Something really, really bad. Just as the words left her mouth, Colton’s body stiffened.

She noticed his eyes; they had changed from thirsty and passionate to distant and more distant. And there she was, bound and tied, backed up against his desk, and completely vulnerable.

“What?” she asked, desperately hoping for an explanation that wouldn’t leave her feeling completely humiliated.

He took in a quick breath of air and then shook his head as though he was just coming to his senses. “You have work to do.”

Her face turned the color of a fresh red rose; she was mortified that he could just turn her on and off like a light switch.

He undid the silky knot around her wrists and retrieved the pocket square. Then he slid open the desk drawer to the side of her hip. Colton pulled out a shiny laptop and placed it on the surface of the desk.

“Is that for me?” she asked, knowing full well it was.

“Yes.” He glanced at her cami top that was still rolled up to her belly button. “You might want to make an adjustment.”

Her cheeks flushed red from embarrassment and she immediately stood up straight and adjusted the lingerie she was wearing so that it at least it covered her underwear.

Colton’s eyes had shifted for sure. She had no idea what happened, but for whatever reason he was no longer interested in having sex with her.

I should be relieved
, she thought.
This is actually a blessing
, she tried to convince herself.

“I’ll bring you some more suitable clothes later. I want you to get started.”

Her eyes widened as she stared at the laptop. “For real? You want me to start doing something even though you haven’t told me a single thing about what it is I’m supposed to be doing?”

Colton raised both of his brows. “I don’t have time for complaining. You sent me that content for a reason, because somewhere inside that soul of yours you know that you were born to write. Now write.”

She shook her head as she spoke, “No, I sent you that because I was desperate. Because you took away my job. Because I lost my mind.”

He forced a smile as he reached for her hand. She closed her eyes for a split second as their flesh met yet again. “Taylor, look at me,” he said, sabotaging her attempt to avoid the task at hand. “You can do this.”

Her eyes finally softened as she looked down at the laptop, then back up at the author himself. “What do you expect me to do?”

He nodded his head up and down. “Are you ready for the truth?”

She swallowed hard before answering. The truth was, she didn’t think she really was ready for the truth. If she was being totally honest, she wasn’t really ready for any of this.

“Hit me,” she said.

He smirked, and she knew right away from the way he was looking at her that he was about to say something that could possibly change her life forever.

“I expect you to help me right the bestselling series of all time,” he said.

She squinted her eyes and tilted her head ever so slightly to the side. “Excuse me?”

His eyes narrowed as he repeated himself. “I expect you to help me write the highest selling book ever published in the history of fiction.”

She rubbed the side of her ear in a desperate attempt to quell her own nervousness. “Me?”

“Yes, you Taylor. Taylor Ward, known to nobody, will soon become a household name.”

She cleared her throat. “Okayy. And how do you suppose that’s going to happen?”

Colton looked out the window of the barren room, then back at Taylor. “One word at a time.”

She shook her head somewhat frantically. Then he lifted up her chin with his finger, forcing her eyes to meet with his.

Taylor was convinced that he had lost his mind.

But her bucket of options had already tipped over and rolled out of sight the moment she lost her family, her job, and her apartment.

“I guess I have no choice,” she said meekly.

Something flickered in his gaze. She wondered if he still wanted her body, or if he had suddenly moved on from her in that way. How else could he have just pulled the plug on their foreplay like that?

Focus, Taylor
.

There were bigger fish to fry right now. If Colton was serious about them writing together… if he wasn’t totally nuts, or just using her for some dark, twisted desire of his, then she better stand up straight and start paying real close attention.

Controversial or not, he was a one-man literary powerhouse.

“Okay, one word at a time it is. What do you want me to start with?” she asked innocently.

He burst into laughter as he ran his hands across his own rippled abs.

Taylor raised an eye. “I really wasn’t trying to be funny. I have no clue what I’m supposed to do.”

Colton pulled out the desk chair and gestured for her to sit. Without exchanging any words together, she immediately did as his hands suggested and sat down in the black office chair. The billionaire pushed her in closer so that she was positioned perfectly at the desk.

“Now close your eyes,” he said deeply.

“Another one of your blindfold maneuvers?” she asked.

He chuckled. “No, that would be too easy.” Then he placed both of his hands on the tops of her shoulders.

He was right- being seduced by him would have been much more preferable than going through whatever it was she was about to go through as he stood behind her.

“I want you to erase everything you’ve ever told yourself about your ability to write,” he said.

She shifted in her chair as she tried to process what he had just told her to do.

“Relax,” he said softly. “I need you to focus.”

“I’m trying my best.”

“You don’t need to try, you just need to let what’s inside of you come to the surface. Now do as I instructed.”

She closed her eyes even tighter as her painful past started to flood her brain. There was one moment in particular that she swore she’d never revisit for as long as she was alive- the moment all of her dreams, including becoming a writer, came crashing down.

This is exactly why I didn’t want to get involved with a man like Colton
, she thought. The memory was almost unbearable for her to take.

No, I’m not going there
,
regardless of what he says or does
.

Taylor stood up abruptly and faced Colton. “I can’t do this,” she said as she shook her head.

The handsome billionaire’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean? You’re giving up already?”

“No, it’s not that simple,” she said. “You don’t understand…” her voice trailed off as she pondered whether or not she should tell him about what had happened to her the day she turned seventeen.

“Actually, it’s very simple. You’re afraid.”

Taylor felt a rage that had been trapped inside of her for too damn long begin to boil over. “Screw you, Colton. You think you know everything about because me we hooked up a few times and you read a thousand words of my writing?”

Although he took a step back, she could tell from his body language that he wasn’t upset about the things she just said. In fact, she’d never seen his eyes and forehead and cheeks look so soft and so inviting before. His guard was down, and it caught her so far off guard that she wished she could take back the things she just unloaded on him.

“I guess I um…” she tried to apologize, but she just couldn’t get the words out.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

Taylor did everything she could to avoid making direct eye contact with him. She was simultaneously mortified and on the brink of tears.

“Please look at me Taylor,” he tried again.

Take a chance
, she thought.
For once in your goddamn life, take a chance.

She lifted her chin and their eyes immediately met. His beautiful, dark eyes looked like entire galaxies that she could get lost in forever.

His voice was firm but soothing. “I don’t know what your deal is. And you’re right, I don’t know much about you. But I believe you can do this, and I believe that deep down, beneath whatever it is that’s making you self-doubt yourself, you know you can do this too.”

Taylor used every ounce of strength she had left to fight back the tears from welling up. It was too late though, she had already gone too far into her past, to a place she wasn’t equipped to process anymore, and there was no way in hell she’d be able to stop the tears from coming at this point.

The first tear began to roll slowly down her cheek, then the second. By the time Colton had his arms around her, her eyes were gushing.

“It’s okay, I got you,” he said as he engulfed her in his arms.

Part of her hated the way he was making her feel right now- safe, warm, and cared for. Because she knew, or at least she thought she knew, that nothing this comforting can last forever.