Temptation: a billionaire erotic romance (16 page)

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.  That sounded beautiful.

But it was too good to be true, and she knew it.  She wanted to say something, to warn him, to ask him to think rationally about this.  Surely he knew from his criminal past with Harlow that things couldn’t truly be this simple and that he couldn’t really pull of such a betrayal.  She wanted to take him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him.  She wanted to scream at him to think for once in his life.

Instead, Serena shut her mouth, afraid of what she might say.

Jacques’ words haunted her more every day.  The idea that Val would reject her if she revealed she knew about his past was one nearly too painful to contemplate, but she couldn’t stop herself from dwelling on it.  It paralyzed her with fear.  It muted her.

“I don’t feel up to sex tonight, Serena,” Val said, standing up and stretching.  “You understand.”

“Of course,” Serena murmured numbly. 

She watched him leave, suddenly alone in the cold emptiness of her bedroom. 

She wanted to go home.  She wanted to hug Val.  She wanted to bury her head in her blankets and never come out.

She groaned and fell back onto the bed.

Her mother had warned her about men like Val.

*****

The night before the meeting, Val sent her a single text:

Go to the bedroom.  Undress.  Be ready by seven
.

It made her naked body tingle from the tips of her toes to the kinks in her hair as though she had touched a live electric wire.  That was the power Val had over her—he could shake her to her foundations with a single text or a sideways look.

There was sort of a sense of urgency that night.  It felt as if their entire relationship was about to culminate, Serena realized as she slipped off her dress. 

She had prepared the bedroom for that night carefully and was counting down the minutes until seven.  She looked into the mirror at her naked body, curling her hair around a finger.  As much as she wanted to focus completely on the sexual energy of the night and the promise of the pleasure Val was about to bring to her, she couldn’t.  All she could think about was tomorrow.

Val was about to risk his life for her, and she was about to give  him up and let him do it.  Things would never be the same.

And then what?  Tomorrow would be hell, but somehow she thought the day after would be even worse.  What would happen when Val and Harry got back and her contract ended?

What would happen if they didn’t come back at all?

She swallowed hard.

She didn’t want to think about it.

She turned her head when she heard the creak of the opening door.  Val strode in, his head held high and his eyes holding something strong and resolute.  Instead of taking time and preparing as he normally did, he walked straight to Serena and took her in his arms, bringing her mouth to his. 

She kissed him long and hard, savoring the taste of his mouth.  After all, this could be the last time she would have the chance.  His tongue slipped into her mouth, teasing her.  Her tongue answered his, savoring the taste of him.

He pulled away and kissed her neck.  He started at her collarbone, then kissed his way up her jawline, leaving her breaths hard and ragged.  He nipped at her neck, leaving the softest blush of a bruise on its pale flesh.

“Serena,” he groaned into her ear. 

She gasped when one of his long fingers deftly slipped into her panties, stroking her wetness.  He wasn’t starting slowly tonight.  He wasn’t building up the tension or letting anticipation smother her.  He was taking what he wanted and taking it now.  It did things to her she had never felt before.

With no warning, she felt herself shoved back onto the bed roughly, one of Val’s hands pinning her down.  Her heart raced.  Here was his master side breaking out again, and she loved it. 

His eyes were on fire, and she could see his cock straining against his pants.  She obediently remained on her back, vulnerable and open to him as he undressed.  It was torture to be so aroused and have to wait for her master, but it was good torture, the kind that made release so worth it.

Val’s strong hands spread her legs again, and he brought his cock against her.  He let her quiver under the sensation of his thick cock teasing her, pressing against her for a few seconds but pulling back at the last moment instead of fulfilling her desires.  She groaned underneath him, and Val laughed.

“You’re so impatient, Serena,” he teased.

He leaned forward, pressing his cock against her again.  His hips bucked, thrusting inside her just enough to make her gasp but not enough to really fill her.  She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, unable to handle it.

Once again, he pressed his cock against her, but this time, he pressed forward slowly without pulling back.  She felt his thick cock slowly filling her, and she whimpered as the smooth motion of his hips against hers drew her into ecstasy.  She spread her legs wider, welcoming his body into hers as far as he could push it. 

Once again, she was reminded of how big he was—it almost hurt, his cock spreading her legs and stretching her from the inside.  But like everything else with Val, the pain was pleasure.  She wanted him to hurt her.  She wanted him to hurt her so much she begged him to do it again.

In one quick thrust, Val pounded into her, making her cry out.  She dug her fingers into his shoulder as he began steadily plowing into her.  Val forced his cock into her, taking from her what he wanted and leaving her weak and helpless in his arms.  He pressed her against the bed with his whole weight on her.  She gasped as he fucked her, unable to move or fight back.  She was totally his.  He owned her.

Val’s rhythm became hard and fast, slowly increasing in intensity until it began to create pain mixed with the pleasure.  It drove her wilder.  His cock replaced any whip or tool he could use, stretching her open for him.  His arms were his restraints, pinning her against the bed so that she could not move.  He fucked her viciously, and she felt redness creep into her cheeks and moans creep into her gasping breath. 

Val leaned down and kissed her open mouth, biting one of her plump lips.

“God,” he growled.  “You’re so fucking sexy when I’m hurting you.  Do you know that, Serena?”

“Yes, Sir,” she cried.  He moved his hips in a way that grinded them against her clit, and she cried out again.  Val smiled.  One of his hands crept down and began stroking her clit, teasing her as his cock pounded into her. 

He leaned forward and sucked on one of her breasts as he teased her.  His tongue swirled around her nipple, and she felt his teeth press down on it.  She tried to stifle her moans, embarrassed that he drove her so crazy, but she couldn’t.

Val chuckled darkly.

 “Would you like to cum, Serena?” he growled into her ear.  His hips pounded against hers and his ragged breath was hot against her cheek.  She felt his teeth graze her neck.

“Yes, Sir,” she moaned.

“You know what to do,” he said, his voice ragged.  His fingers reached down and pinched her clit, making her scream.  She thrashed under him, barely able to handle the pleasure.  “Beg me,” he said seductively.

“Please, Sir,” she cried.  “Please, can I cum, Sir?”

He pulled back, grabbing her hair and pulled her up to him.  She threw her arms back to steady herself, and he grabbed them, pinning them behind her.  His lips found her neck, and he kissed it as he fucked her, keeping her bound to him through sheer strength alone.

“Cum for me,” he ordered in a whisper.

Instantly her body exploded in sensation, her orgasm rocking every inch of her.  Val’s hips pounded her even harder, and the steady vicious hammering of his cock inside her was driving her even more wild.  She clutched at the sheets, desperately trying to ground herself as she moaned and shook like an earthquake.  She felt Val’s nails dig into her hips as he fucked her, and by his moans, she could tell that he was cumming too.  The pain of his tight grip on her skin just added to the pleasure, drawing out her orgasm even longer.

After a few moments, she began to float down back into reality.  She focused on her breath, trying to tame it as her orgasm ended.  She felt Val’s cock pull out of her, leaving her pleasantly sated, like she had just had a good meal. 

God, she loved him.

Val crawled into bed with her and brought her to him, pulling a blanket over them to shield them from the chill of the cold room.

She watched their chests rise and fall as they caught their breath, recovering from such an intense session of sex.  The warmth of his body next to her mixed with the golden afterglow of her orgasm was absolutely heavenly.  She buried her face in his chest, wishing this moment would never stop. 

But still, like everything good, it eventually had to.

“Serena,” Val said quietly after a few minutes.  He propped himself up against the headboard and looked down into her eyes.  His face was concerned, his eyes sorry.  “I need you to go.”

She felt as if a boulder had been dropped on her.

“What?” she breathed. 

She grabbed the blanket and brought it up to her chest, clinging to it like it was a lifesaver.  She could barely understand him through her lethargic post-sex fog, but she knew whatever he was about to say, it wouldn’t be good.

“You heard me.  I need you to leave tonight.  It’s not safe here, especially considering what I’m going to be doing tomorrow.  Go back home, Serena.”

“But Val….”

“Do you not know how hard this is on me?” he asked, turning on her.  Their eyes met, and Serena jumped.  His gaze was burning and furious, but also pained.  “Jesus, Serena!  This is for your own good.  Do you think I want to do this?”

Serena turned her face away, fighting back the tears.

Val groaned and tried to pull her to him again, but she resisted, wrapping her arms around herself. 
Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry
, she shouted internally at herself.

“God, Serena,” he breathed, “you have to understand.”

“I do understand,” she said beneath the tears.  “And I don’t care.  I want to stay.  I have to stay.”

He threw the blanket off of him, rolling out of bed furiously.  “No, you
don’t
understand, Serena,” he snapped.  He stalked to the wardrobe and found his robe.  “If you did, you would run away as fast as you could.  I’m dangerous.”

“I don’t care!” she cried. 

“You would care if you really understood,” he cried, whirling on her a pained expression.  “You have no idea what kind of danger you’re in, what kind of trouble will come after.  Once people realize how much I—”  He hesitated.  “How much I
care
about you, you’ll have a target on your head.”

Serena jumped out of bed, tearing the blanket off of her and looking at him with wild, passionate eyes.  Her mind was blank but buzzing, and all she could feel was the immediate urgency of needing to stay with Val.  Nothing else mattered.

“I don’t care that you’re dangerous,” she blurted out, unable to stop herself.  And then she said the next thing, the thing she swore to herself she would never say in front of Val.  “I don’t care that you used to be a criminal!”

There was a moment of dead silence between them.  Val’s face twisted, his eyes going from pain to fury.

Shit
, thought Serena.  God, why hadn’t she listened to Jacques?  Hadn’t he warned her about letting on that she knew about Val’s past?  Who knew what was in store for her.  She crossed her arms over herself tighter, bracing for the impact of what she had just done.

“That’s what you think I am?” Val roared.  “A criminal?”

She flinched under his harsh words.

“Val, that’s not what I mean!” she answered, her voice softer.  Oh God, what had she done?  “Val, please … I didn’t mean….”

“And yet that’s what you said,” he said, whirling around to turn his back on her.  He grabbed his robe from the wardrobe and began dressing, his harms tying the robe in furious, jerky movements.  “If you think I’m such a criminal, Serena, you should really leave.  You should know how dangerous I am.”

“Val….  I know about Belladonna!  Please!”

He gave her a cold look.  “The only people who know about Belladonna are me and Harlow.”

Before she could get another word out, he spun around and marched to the door, his back turned to her and his expression unreadable.  She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think herself away from the situation, like she could take past the last few seconds through sheer force of will. 

The door closed with a slam, making her jump.  Val’s heavy footsteps walked down the hall, fading away until Serena was left totally alone in the silence of her room.

For a moment, she sat on her bed, keeping her eyes shut and her arms wrapped around her.  When she opened them, she saw that she really and truly was left alone.  A coldness filled her heart.  She couldn’t even cry anymore, just feel alone.

A few seconds more, and she knew she couldn’t handle it.