ROMANCE: Bear Naked Seduction (Billionaire Bear Trio Book 1) (15 page)

Friends to Lovers

Friends to Lovers

Chapter 1

Natalia Black looked at her reflection in the mirror and shrugged. This had to be the fourth or fifth outfit that she had tried on that morning and she still felt like everything she wore was bad on her. She was now wearing a black floral skater dress that reached just above her knees. It showed off her perfectly flawless beautiful legs and the top was cut low just enough to show off her beautiful cleavage – her only two good assets, or so she thought. If she did settle on wearing this dress, she had her black satin peep toe heels in mind. As much as she always felt comfortable in her body, today was different. For the first time in six years, she was wishing she was smaller. The whole panic about her outfit was the simple fact that she was going to be seeing her college crush for the first time in years. And she hated the idea that she had to become something different. If only she had ended up pursuing a career in…anything else rather than what she was doing, she would have avoided her present crisis. Her company Allen and Roberts was holding a party to welcome the new partner Alexander Charleston. Unfortunately for her, the new partner was also her college crush. And the last time she had seen him was almost six years earlier at his party, the party that changed everything. Alexander had always been a geeky guy, cute but still a geek. He had been working hard on a mobile app for close to a year and when it was ready, Google had paid a fortune for it. And that was when everything changed. He became an instant millionaire and made serious investments changing him from the average Joe to one of the people to watch.

Natalia could not help but smile when she thought of Alex. He was not just a well-toned beautiful man, he was also one of the wealthiest man she knew. Forbes had even featured him on one of their ‘Top 40 Under 40’ articles. As far as Natalia was concerned, Alex Charleston had money pouring from every orifice in his body. Apart from that, he was a tall man with all the right stuff: full head of shiny black hair, perfectly toned muscular body and glossy hazel eyes that seemed to pry the truth out of anyone who looked into them.

Given a chance, Natalia would have chosen to skip the acquisition party. But being one of the junior partners, her boss Rick Allen could not have been clearer about attendance.

“You have a way with people, Black. Attendance for you is not an option,” he had said. “It is mandatory.”

“And here I thought that a career in finance would be less demanding,”
she thought as she pulled off the dress she had on leaving her in her black underwear.

“Make up your mind, Natalia,”
she thought as she stared into her reflection.
“Alex had always been nice to you and he liked you once,”
she thought again but then she shrugged. Back then she was a perfect size eight and now she was almost double the body Alex remembered.

She was still looking into her reflection when she heard her doorbell ring. She grabbed her phone and looked at the screen. A frown played on her face. It was already seven thirty. She was supposed to be headed out at that very minute. She threw on a bathrobe just as her doorbell rang again.

“Hold your horses,” she said under her breath as she made her way to the front door. She almost gasped when she opened the door. There, standing outside her apartment was Elle Palmer, her ride to the party since her car was in the shop.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Elle said as she looked at Natalia. “You are still undressed?”

Natalia looked at Elle and shrugged.

“I have nothing to wear,” she said. Elle shook her head.

“Are you still overthinking this whole Alex thing?” she asked as she made her way to Natalia’s bedroom.

“Where are you going?” Natalia asked as she followed close behind.

“I am going to get you something to wear,” Elle said. Natalia shrugged again and sat on the edge of the bed. Elle looked at the already enormous pile of clothes on the bed and then at her best friend. “How can you not have anything to wear with all these?” she asked.

“These are normal everyday work clothes.”

“Glamorous everyday work clothes,” Elle corrected her.

“Still, this is a freaking party. I just can’t show up there in…” she picked up a handful of clothes and tossed them in the air. “This pile of crap.”

“Relax,” Elle said. She pulled out a dress from the back of the closet and smiled. “This is what you need.”

Natalia looked at her and smiled. She had been having a wardrobe crisis for almost two and a half hours and Elle had been there for less than five minutes and she had already sorted her out. She took the black and white slimming illusion dress from Elle and took off her bathrobe. She pulled the dress on and stood in front of the mirror. She loved the fact that the dress hid everything she wanted hidden and showed off everything she wanted seen. She didn’t even know why she had not thought of the dress in the first place. She had a smile on her face as she looked at her reflection.

“Okay, makeup and shoes. We are out of here in fifteen minutes,” Elle said as she jingled her keys at Natalia.

****

When they finally got to the party, Natalia was not very sure what she was supposed to do. Normally she would be bustling around, the life of the party but today was different. She had to be cool, calm and collected. She had to be the woman Alex remembered.

“Here, you look like you need it more than I do,” Elle said as she handed Natalia a glass of champagne. “Besides, I am your designated driver, right? You have no reason not to drink,” she added as she walked away leaving Natalia alone, sipping on her drink.

“Black,” Natalia heard her boss calling out as she took a long sip of her wine. She turned around and almost dropped the glass when she saw Rick walking towards her with Alex. “Alexander Charleston I would like you to meet one of our most promising junior partners, Natalia Black.”

Natalia was dumbfounded as she looked at Alex. He was in a grey suit and a maroon tie. It was a simple look but he looked perfect.

“Actually we have met before,” Alex said with a smile that showed off that perfectly dimpled cheek.

“Oh?” Rick asked.

“Yes. Natalia Black and I were in the same college.” Alex was looking at her as he spoke.

“Well, what a small world,” Rick said with a smile.

“It sure is,” Alex said. Natalia was still dumbfounded.

“And to think that Black here never thought to tell me that she knew you when I mentioned you to her,” Rick said with a smile.

“Yeah, Natalia has always been a very private person,” Alex said, still looking at her. “Did you say junior partner?” Rick nodded.

“She is one of the best people I have ever worked with. I mean, she has zeal, innovation…she actually makes finance interesting,” Rick said. Natalia shrugged.

“You have to love what you do, right?” she said, trying as hard as she could to avoid Alex’s line of sight.

“Yeah, I guess you do,” Rick said.

“Actually,” Alex started as he turned to look at Rick. “Do you mind if I talk to Natalia alone?” Rick nodded and walked away. Alex’s eyes ran down Natalia’s curvy body before he looked into her eyes. “You look beautiful.”

“Thanks,” she said in a soft voice.

“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for the longest time,” he said.

“Really?” Natalia asked. Her voice was so low that she was almost whispering but she didn’t even realize.

“Really. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…I have literally tried you on every social media platform,” he said. Natalia felt her cheeks flush.

“I…um…I know,” she said in a soft voice.

“And?” he asked. She gently tucked a curly strand of hair behind her ear. She took a long sip of her wine and sighed.

“You were with that Russian…German…model,” she said.

“She was Czech and she was a designer,” Alex corrected her.

“Well, there you have it. You had someone in your life and I once told you that I am incapable of being just friends with you.” She took another long sip of her wine. “It was better to just keep my distance.”

“Well, if you must know, Eliana and I haven’t been together in more than two years,” Alex said as he looked around. “Could we go somewhere a little quieter?” he asked. She nodded and began walking out of the crowded room. Her heart was beating hard in her chest as they made their way out to the cold night air. She led him to a grassy area on the hotel grounds and felt a shiver going through her. He sat down on a flower bed and began taking off his jacket as she sat down next to him.

“Now Natalia,” he started as he draped his jacket over her shoulders. “Are you going to tell me why you have been avoiding me?” he asked.

She shrugged and then turned to look at him.

“Eliana,” she started. “Was one of the many reasons.”

“You know that relationship was doomed from the start, right?” he asked as he took her glass from her. She shook her head.

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“Eliana was…too much for me. I mean I had just made my first big break after selling my app and the high life was a little hard to understand….” His voice trailed off. “I was really trying to understand what was going on in my life at the time and maybe I shouldn’t have rushed into the whole Eliana thing.”

Natalia looked at him and shook her head.

“Then why did you do it?” she asked in a whisper.

Alex forced out a sad smile as he looked at her.

“Because the girl I wanted was with someone else,” he said.

Even in the dark night, she could still see into his perfectly glossy eyes.

“And who was the girl?” she asked. Alex smiled again, genuinely this time before he reached for her hand.

“Do you really need to ask?” he asked.

Natalia almost blurted out ‘Me?’ because she could not believe that her crush had at one time wanted her the way she wanted him.

“But you seemed so into Josh King at the time…I couldn’t just…” he trailed off. He looked at her and shook his head. “I had everything I wanted at the time but I remember that day I held the party after selling my app to Google, you seemed so happy to be with Josh and I just didn’t think I could cost you your happiness.”

Natalia had to pinch herself to make sure she was not imagining everything Alex was saying at that moment.

“You were into me?” she asked as if she didn’t believe what she had just heard. Alex nodded.

“I am
still
into you,” he said in a soft voice as he drew little circles on the back of her hand using his thumbs. “I think I always will.”

“But I look different…I am bigger than I was back then,” she said in a soft voice. Alex shrugged.

“So what?” he asked looking into her eyes. “You are still the most beautiful woman I have ever seen plus your curves are just perfect.” Natalia felt her cheeks flush again.

“Alex…” she started before he took her other hand in his.

“Don’t,” he said before she could get a chance to finish what she was saying. “I just want to live in this moment.”

“What moment?” she asked in a soft voice.

“The moment when I get to tell the girl I like that I have had feelings for her all along,” he said in a soft voice.

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” she asked.

“I never thought I had to.” Alex was whispering now. He began moving closer to her, slowly bringing her head down to meet her lips in a glorious kiss but before he could get to her, she pulled back.

“Alex,” she whispered. Alex closed his eyes and pulled away from her. “I don’t want to…it’s not that I don’t want to…” she shook her head.

“Just shut up, Natalia. You are not making any sense,”
she scolded herself as she stood up. She looked at him and fought back a tear that was threatening to roll down her cheeks. “Maybe I should just leave,” she said in a tired, confused voice.

“Fine. I’ll take you home,” he said, standing up.

“But I am here with Elle,” she said in a soft voice. “She is my ride.”

“Elle Voss?” he asked and she nodded.

“You know her?” she asked as she looked at him.

“Not really, but we have brushed shoulders once or twice,” he said. He took a step towards her and she wanted to take one back. But she couldn’t. “Natalia, I leave for New York tomorrow and I won’t be back for another two weeks.” He was standing so close that she could smell his sexy musky scent. He took her hand again.  “Let me take you home.”

Chapter 2

The drive to her apartment was quiet and awkward…at least for Natalia. She hated that she had pulled away from him when he leaned in to kiss her. She had dreamed of nothing more than to be in his arms and when she got the chance she had pulled away.

“What is wrong with you?”
she wondered as she leaned back in her seat.
“This is what you have always wanted.”

“Are you okay?” Alex suddenly asked, snapping her out of her trance. She looked at him and nodded.

“Yeah, guess I am just tired.”

“Really? We left the party almost immediately after we got there.” She shrugged.

“I had a long day today, that’s all,” she said as he pulled up in front of her apartment building.

“We’re here,” he said in a soft voice as he unbuckled his seatbelt. He got out of the car and she watched him as he walked round the front of the car to open her door. He held his hand out to her and she put her small hand in his. She looked at him as she climbed out of the car. “You know I wouldn’t be a perfect gentleman if I didn’t walk you to your door.”

She smiled and closed the door before she led him to her door. They walked up in silence, her heart beating hard in her chest.

“Aren’t you afraid that the party is going on without you? The new majority shareholder?” she asked when she got to the door.

“Not really,” he said as she opened the door. “I am a name partner and I have brought in hundreds of millions with my name. My time is better spent elsewhere…maybe looking for more clients as far as they are concerned.”

She smiled.

“Would you like to come in for a coffee or something?” she asked.

“Tea would be better,” he said in a low tone. She nodded smiling. He had always been a little too English when it came to his beverage preferences.

“I don’t know if I have any tea,” she said frowning. Alex looked into her eyes as they stepped into her apartment.

“You know what?” he asked as he closed the door. “Screw the tea. That is not why I came here anyway.”

“Why did you come here?” she asked looking at him.

“What do you think?” he asked, his voice lower than ever.

Natalia could feel her cheeks getting hot as he looked at her. He held the back of her neck and pulled her close. She bit her lower lip and closed her eyes as he untied the knot that held her dress up.

“Don’t do that. Open your eyes,” he said. The tone in his voice was more commanding than requesting. “I want you to look at me.”

She did as he asked and looked into his hazel eyes. She could feel him undressing her with his eyes as he pushed the dress off her shoulders. She felt a shiver go down her spine as she stood there, He took a step forward and began kissing her shoulder. She tilted her head to her side and gasped when she felt his teeth nibbling on her flesh. He was working his way up her neck and she was moaning softly. She did not even realize when she slowly brought up a hand to hold the back of his neck. He kissed her neck and then her chin and then found her lips again. She exhaled into his mouth as she felt his lips against hers, massaging her. He began backing her up against the wall. He then pulled her hand from behind his neck and then took her other hand. He pulled away briefly and interlaced his fingers with hers before he pinned them over her head. He had a smile on his lips as he looked into her eyes. She was completely helpless. She couldn’t move and that was how he wanted it, He leaned forward and kissed her again, pressing his body against hers.

Natalia was moaning as she felt his tongue against hers seeking her out. His kiss grew deeper and more intense making her feel things she had never thought possible in a million years. He pulled away and released one of her hands. She held the back of his head as he pulled down her zipper. She felt a chill run through her as he pulled her dress down making it drop to the ground, gathering around her ankles like soft black and white petals.

“Alex…” she started before he pressed a finger on her lips.

“Don’t talk. Don’t think.” He looked down at her full breasts concealed in her beautiful black lace and satin bra. Her heart was pounding as she looked into his eyes. “I just want you,” he said in a soft voice before he took her hand and walked her to the couch. She sat down and he knelt in between her legs. He put his hands on her knees and spread them as he looked at her. He leaned in and kissed her softly as he filled his hand with one breast. She let out a loud moan as he kneaded her soft sensitive flesh softly. She moaned her disapproval when he pulled away from her lips so that he could run his lips down her neck and then her chest. She was breathing hard as he undid the clasp of her bra exposing her full breasts to him. A smile played on his lips as he looked at her breasts rise and fall with every breath she took. She barely had enough time to process what was happening before he leaned in and took one of her nipples in his mouth. She let out a loud moan as he began running his tongue round her nipple as he gave her other breast equal attention from his flicking fingertips. She had her head thrown back and her chest was involuntarily thrusting into his face. He released her already hard nipple and took in her other one making her moan even louder. She felt one of his hands slowly slipping into her panties to run against her already wet slit.

He pulled away and looked at her as he slipped a finger into her pussy and she let out a gasp. She spread her legs wider and gasped and moaned as he fingered her long and hard and it was not long before she begged him for more. He pulled his finger out of her and pulled down her panties. Her scent was intoxicating and her wetness was all he lived for at that moment.

“You want more of me?” he asked in a whisper and she nodded. “I need to hear you baby.”

“Yes,” she said in a soft voice. “I need more of you.”

Alex smiled again and spread her legs even wider. She was looking at him as he slipped his hands under her knees to raise her legs. He secured her legs on her shoulders and leaned in to kiss her pussy. She was moaning and gasping as he kissed and licked her like his life depended on it. He was literally eating her out, making her shiver as he went on. The way he was holding her ensured that she couldn’t move even if she wanted to. She was his at that moment, all his.

Natalia moaned softly when she felt his tongue hitting her clit. He was flicking it against her hard clit and his finger was deep inside her.

“Alex…oh shit…” she moaned as he went on fingering her and flicking his tongue against her clit. It was all too much for her and she knew that she was going to explode at any moment. “Alex…slow down …” she begged but he wouldn’t listen. If anything, her pleas seemed to be fuelling him further. She moaned and squirmed on the couch as she felt a raging storm brewing inside her. Alex suddenly pulled his finger out only to push in two more causing a loud moan to escape her lips. He then pulled his fingers out clamped his mouth on her pussy as she felt herself emptying into her mouth. By the time he pulled away, she was almost completely drained.

Alex got on his feet and then picked her up in his arms. For a minute, she didn’t think he could handle her weight but she was surprised at how easily he carried her to the bedroom. She looked up at him as he gently laid her on the bed. He stood at the foot of the bed and began undoing his shirt buttons one by one. She raised her head and supported her weight on her elbows as he pushed his pants down revealing his designer underwear. The bulge in his boxer shorts was almost scary. He climbed onto the bed and settled in between her legs. She could feel his hardness pressing against her thigh. She kissed him softly as he pushed off his shorts revealing his girth to her. When she felt the warmth of his cock on her thigh, Natalia felt a panic go through her body. She didn’t have to touch him to know how long he really was. She could feel his entire thickness on her.

“Wait,” she suddenly said as he kissed her neck. He pulled away and looked down at her.

“What? What is it?” he asked in a soft voice.

“I can’t…I have to go to the bathroom,” she announced.

“Now?” he asked.

“Yes, right now!” Without knowing it, she was yelling. Alex got off her and she pulled her bedding over her making him wonder why she was hiding what he had already seen. She climbed off the bed and ran out of the bedroom and into her bathroom. She was panting as she leaned against the closed door, her heart pounding.

It had been almost ten months since she got intimate with anyone let alone someone as large as Alex was. He was literally packing a trunk.

“I have never thought him out to be so big,”
she thought as she breathed hard.
“This has to be so embarrassing.”
She sunk to the ground and pulled the bedding around her body. She didn’t know how she could go back out there without looking like a complete fool.
“Who asks to go to the bathroom before getting it on?”
she wondered. 

She didn’t know how long she had been sitting on her bathroom floor when she heard a soft knock on the door.

“Natalia,” she heard Alex calling. “Are you okay?”

She felt a chill going down her spine.

“Um…I’m okay, I just need to…” her voice trailed off. She couldn’t think of anything that wouldn’t make her sound like a complete idiot. “I’ll be right out,” she finally said.

She got to her feet and walked over to sink. She turned on the tap and rinsed her face with the cold water and walked out of the bathroom. Alex was seated on the edge of the bed, a sheet on his pelvis covering up his still hard cock.

“Are you okay?” he asked as she walked towards him. She nodded and sat next to him. “Shall we pick up where we left off?” he asked as he leaned in to kiss her but she pulled back.

“I can’t,” she said in a soft voice.

“Did something happen?” Alex asked in a worried voice.

“Say something Natalia!”
she thought as she looked at him.
“Don’t just look at him blankly.”

“Natalia?” he said again. “Do I need to drive you to the emergency room? What happened?”

“It’s um…it’s that time of month,” she suddenly said, surprising even herself.

“Really?” Alex seemed confused. “But I was just down there,” he said frowning.

“Yeah well…the female body can be a little complex,” Natalia said standing up. She steadied the bedding that was covering up her nakedness. She walked to one wall and leaned against it.

“Well, I guess then this is a good time to have that tea,” he announced. “Better yet, let’s have something to eat. I’m starving.”

Natalia raised an eyebrow as she watched him pull his pants back on.

“So you are staying?” she asked, surprised. He got his shirt from the floor and looked at her nodding.

“Why wouldn’t I?” he asked with a smile. He was now standing right in front of her. He pulled the bedding from her and let it fall to the ground before he helped her into his shirt.

“But we are not going to have sex,” she said as he began buttoning the shirt up, leaving just enough buttons undone so he could steal glances at her full breasts.

“If that is all you think I want from you then you must really not know what you do to me, Natalia,” he said as he planted a kiss on her forehead.