Romance: Two Nights with the Billionaire

Romance: Two Nights with the Billionaire

Elizabeth Ward

Romance: Two Nights with the Billionaire

Elizabeth Ward

Copyright © 2015

Published by Run Free Publishing

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. 

Also by Elizabeth Ward

Romance: One Night with the Billionaire

Romance: Two Nights with the Billionaire

Elizabeth Ward

For everybody who has ever been confused about love…

I wake with the taste of him still lingering in my mouth.

Growling, I try to wriggle closer to the sexy beast that rocked my world last night. My whole body is still aching from the hours of pounding that Joshua put me through and I’m eager take another ride. I have never felt closer to anyone when our naked bodies are pressed intimately together. I love the feeling of emotional closeness that we have – I never knew two people could experience such wonder together. 

It’s not until my hand reaches the edge of the bed that I fully wake up.

I’m alone.

Again.

Joshua has been leaving for work earlier and earlier. I ask him to wake me before he goes but he never does.

“You look so peaceful when you’re sleeping,” he always says. “I can’t bear to disturb you.”

I know I shouldn’t let it annoy me, but I can’t help it. We see each other so rarely - is it too much to ask for a few minutes of his time before he goes to work?

I stretch and sigh, feeling the annoyance draining out of me. After two years together I should be used to his constant absences. Even when we were first together and he couldn’t keep his hands off me, he was always between meetings or running late for something.

Two years.

Two years since that first incredible meeting in his office when he’d agreed to fund my app in exchange for a partnership in the venture. Right from the start our chemistry had been sizzling, but it was never just sexual attraction - I saw in him a fellow independent spirit. As a self-made billionaire he understood my need to make my own way in the world, to carve out my own place. And he admired it.

Even now, when I think about that first night in his arms and in his bed my whole body tingles with heat and excitement. If I have the pleasure of growing old and forgetting everything, I hope that night is the last thing I forget.

Joshua has made me feel things I’d never thought possible, at least not for me. And though his constant need for control can get annoying in the daylight hours, behind his closed door, between his expensive silk sheets, I belonged to him and he never let me forget it.

I slip out of bed and step into my slippers so my feet won’t get cold on the hardwood floor. I’m not even sure why I’m getting out of bed - I have nothing to do. I remember when I was a teenager, I always thought it would be so glamorous to be a rich man’s wife or a lady of leisure.

But in truth, it is actually kind of boring. I don’t like tennis or horseback riding and daytime television doesn’t interest me.

Two years ago, I was a driven woman. I wanted to be successful. I went to this unknown handsome billionaire and begged for money to fund the new app I developed. Joshua agreed to be my business partner, but we also landed in bed together.

I was able to identify the gap in the market, and with Joshua’s guidance, I programmed and designed the app to meet the market needs. 

The app took off the second it was released. We broke all sorts of sales records in the first few weeks and the excitement was dizzying. I knew the app would be a hit but I never expected it to move so fast.

In the first year, I made more money than I had ever even dreamed of and just over six months ago, we’d negotiated a deal to sell the app for an insane seven-figure sum.

I am now a very wealthy woman in my own right.

I have everything I’ve ever wanted and the days of worrying about where the next month’s rent was coming from or whether I would eat are a blur now.

Still, sometimes I miss those days of having nothing but noodles in the cupboard for a whole week. My old roommate and best friend, Nicole, and I would talk it up like we were eating caviar, giving the noodles funny suave-sounding names like ‘oriental angel strands’. No matter how dire our finances were or how hungry we felt, we always found things to laugh about.

Yawning, I make my way down the stairs and through the huge foyer into the kitchen. Long gone are the days when I found Joshua’s mansion intimidating and labyrinthine. Even before he asked me to move in six months ago, I’d been able to easily make my way around even in the dark.

I squint at the antique grandfather clock as I pass and have to stop and look closer.

It’s almost 10:30!

There was a time when I couldn’t excuse sleeping in past 7:00 on a weekday unless I was on vacation. I tell myself that there’s no need to feel guilty since I have nowhere to be – I am a lady of leisure. I worked hard and created something the people loved, and now I’m living off the profits...

Lois greets me with a bright smile when I walk into the kitchen.

She’s already pouring me coffee and I can smell the spicy aroma of my favorite cinnamon toast. I have no idea how she always manages to have breakfast ready just as I walk into the kitchen. I know she’d been a housekeeper for many years with another wealthy family before Joshua discovered her, so I guess she’s just that good.

Still, I argue when she slides the toast my way.

“Lois, you don’t have to make me breakfast. I’m perfectly capable of...” I take a bite and my argument is forgotten. I moan in pleasure. “This is incredible.”

She smiles. “It’s my pleasure, Miss Taylor.”

I flip through the paper while Lois busily wipes over the benches. Once I’ve swallowed the last of the coffee and popped the last morsel of spicy-sweet toast in my mouth, Lois clears her throat and I look up with a smile.

“Am I in the way?” I ask.

“Of course not, Miss,” she replies waving a hand. “I wanted to ask, would you mind if I took the afternoon off? It’s not urgent, just my niece’s school play.”

I remember Joshua saying that he probably wouldn’t be back tonight and would get dinner at the office, so I smile and nod.

“Of course, yes!” I reply. “What’s the play?”

For the next half hour, Lois tells me about her niece and family.

I learn more about her in that chat than in the two years I’ve been dating her boss. Her niece reminds me a lot of a young Nicole and I show Lois a picture in the latest gossip mag of Nicole with some big-name actor she’s supposed to be dating.

I can’t help feeling guilty when Lois gets back to work and I wonder off to find something to do. I should have taken the time to get to know her better.

It’s not like I’ve had much else to do…

Chapter 2

It’s getting dark outside and I’m considering making myself something for dinner, something I haven’t had the pleasure of doing in a long time, when I hear Joshua’s limo pull into the drive.

I grin, feeling suddenly giddy, and run to the door to greet him.

Maybe tonight we could try cooking together - enjoying a quiet meal together, and finishing the evening with some leisurely lovemaking.

My whole body tingles at the thought.

When the door opens, I’m smiling brightly but it falters when I see his tired eyes, five o’clock shadow, loosened tie, and rumpled shirt.

“I thought you were having dinner at the office?”

He gives me a smile but it looks forced.

When I wrap my arms around him, his own returning embrace is limp and his kiss is a brisk brushing of lips before he pulls away and strides towards the kitchen.

“Meeting was canceled,” he says over his shoulder before pushing open the swinging door into the kitchen.

This is the reason why I wish he’d wake me before he leaves.

He’s always so tired and distant when he arrives home, which I understand, but it feels like it’s been a long time since he wasn’t tired and stressed from work.

He marches out of the kitchen, grumbling.

“Where’s Lois?” he asks, walking past me into the study.

“I gave her the afternoon and night off,” I say. “She wanted to see her niece’s play so I thought... Well you said you wouldn’t be home and I can...” My words stutter and drop off when Joshua clenches his fists and he rounds on me with a look so dark, I actually take a step back.

“No, Jennifer,” he snaps, making me jump. “I haven’t eaten anything since before dawn. Is it too much to ask for a–”

“Excuse me?”

My temper flares so suddenly I don’t even feel it coming till the words are exploding from me.

“You said you weren’t coming home till late. Lois is the best housekeeper you’ll ever have and in the last two years has she ever asked for anything?  Or were you expecting me to have something hot waiting in the oven in the hundred to one chance that you might come home early?”

“I didn’t say that!” he shoots back. “I just said that I’ve had a long day and it would have been nice to know that you gave my housekeeper the night off.”

My breath catches in my throat.

It’s not like he said anything cruel or hurtful, but the words hit me like a slap in the face and I back away a step. Looking down at my feet, I blink angrily at the tears brimming there.

“You’re right,” I concede, trying to keep my voice steady but failing miserably. “I should have had her call you to make sure you didn’t need her.”

I turn and walk out of the room.

What a stupid thing for me to have done.

Of course I had no right to give her the night off.

She wasn’t our housekeeper, she was
his,
and this isn’t
our
home – he just lets me live here.

I hear him calling after me but I don’t think we should continue until we’re calm. Something in the back of my mind screams at me to walk away and get some distance before I say something that I can’t take back... Or before he does.

That’s what scares me most.

His next words, what he might say if I stay in the room and listen to him rage.

So I make my way up the stairs, feeling like a coward.

In the bathroom I strip, feeling numb, and step under the hot spray and it’s like a dam breaking. The tears flow down my cheeks, hidden by the flow of warm water.

I hadn’t realized just how lonely I was until this moment.

When I made the deal to sell my app, part of the negotiation was a
no contest
agreement. That meant I couldn’t work in phone or tablet app development for three years.

I knew it was a big ask at the time but I didn’t understand just how much not being able to work in the industry would hurt.

I had to stop making all apps, including the ones I made for the gym and others I did mainly for fun. I didn’t realize what a big part of my life app design was until I had to stop. Most of my social connections were through the industry too. 

I had to say goodbye to all that.

At first it had been okay because I had Joshua.

My handsome, charming, slightly kinky, billionaire boyfriend.

But ever since I moved in, everything changed. He works longer hours than he used to and when he comes home, he’s grouchy or too tired to talk. In fact, the only time he seems to like me at all these days is when we’re having sex.

The bathroom door opens and Joshua steps in, closing it behind him.

Looking at him makes me forget everything.

He’s glorious in his nakedness.

Standing over six feet tall with broad shoulders, muscular arms, big hands, strong legs – he looks powerful. His cock is already hard and long and thick, standing to attention between his thighs.

He’s breathing hard, making his powerful chest rise and full as steam from my shower billows around him.

He strides towards me and I let him.

The hot spray makes him slick and shiny and our hands slide over one another easily. His mouth clamps down on mine in a kiss so hot and passionate it makes my toes curl.

Why was I so unhappy just moments ago?

How can I possibly be anything but in heaven when his mouth is on mine, when he’s lifting me, positioning me, sliding into me in the way that’s always been beyond perfect?