The Billionaire’s Secret Heart (A 'Scandals of the Bad Boy Billionaires' Romance) (8 page)

I
t was a short
, quiet ride from Darren's apartment to Mana. Tate said Holden was there, apparently shut up in the back office with paperwork. Emily hadn't said a thing since Tate had asked her out. Tate was equally silent, saying only that we needed to get ice for my hand before turning his attention to the road, sneaking looks at Emily in the rearview, a puzzled expression on his face.

We pulled to a stop in front of Mana, where Tate handed his keys to a valet and ushered us around the corner to the same VIP entrance I'd used with Stuart the weekend before. Tate exchanged a greeting with the bouncer, slapping him on the shoulder as he passed through the open door. Emily followed, ignoring Tate and the bouncer, her head down, body braced against the crowd and music inside. A nightclub wasn't Emily's idea of fun—tons of people, loud music, flashing lights. There was no way she wanted to be here. She was a great friend, but this was above and beyond. I caught up to her and said, "You don't have to come in if you don't want to."

"I'm okay," she said, her voice shaking a little. "I want to see what happens." She shot a grin at me, and I dropped it. If Em was stretching her boundaries, who was I to discourage her?

Tate led us down a back hall, past the restrooms, to a locked door. Pulling a key from his pocket, he opened the door, shoved me through, and locked it behind me.

I was in a cramped office lined with shelves, stacked with papers and boxes. Holden sat hunched over a laptop, scowling at the screen. His dark hair fell in his eyes as if he'd run his fingers through it one too many times. He tapped one finger on the desk in impatience or irritation—I couldn't tell which. I drank in the sight of him. It had been four days since I'd seen him, and it felt like a year. Without looking up from the screen, he said, "What? I'm almost done. Stop bugging me."

I had no idea what to say.
I'm sorry? Darren's an asshole?
Instead, I just stood there, staring at him, before I finally said, "Holden." Just his name. I couldn't manage anything else. His head rose, slowly, and he blinked.

"Holden," I said again, taking a step closer. He stared at me, his dark eyes locked on my face, his expression closed. I pulled my phone out of my pocket with my left hand—my right was throbbing—and held it out to him, saying, "Darren put a virus on it. It stopped me from getting your calls, or you from getting mine. I texted you. I thought you were blowing me off."

I shrugged helplessly as he took the phone from me, turning it over in his hands, as if looking for evidence of the hack when both of us could see that the phone looked completely normal.

"I called you," he said, placing the phone carefully on his desk and standing to face me.

"I know," I said. "Tate told me."

"Tate?" Holden asked. As if he were waiting for his entrance, the key scraped in the lock and the door swung open to reveal Tate, with Emily behind him. Tate handed me a plastic bag filled with ice and looked between us before he said to me, "You good?"

Holden answered for me. "She's good. You can go."

"Jo?" Emily asked, her eyebrows raised.

"I'm good," I said in reassurance, even though I had no idea if I really was. Holden hadn't said much. He definitely hadn't rushed to my side and kissed me senseless, vowing his eternal love for me. Shutting the door behind Tate and Emily, he flipped the deadbolt and watched me press the ice to my hand.

"What happened?" he asked, taking my injured hand in his and smoothing the ice bag gently across my battered fingers. The heat of his hand cradling mine made me a little dizzy. I'd missed touching him. He leaned into me, rubbing his thumb along the side of my pinky finger. "How did you hurt yourself?"

"I punched Darren."

"You what?" He asked, his fingers squeezing mine. I winced, and he loosened his grip, his eyebrows knitting together. "Sorry. Did you say you punched him?"

"He was being an asshole. He was trying to justify what he did, and I . . ." I trailed off and shrugged, embarrassed that I'd hauled off and punched someone. Even if he
was
being an asshole.

"Don't do that again," Holden said. He lifted the ice bag and studied my red, raw knuckles. At least they'd stopped bleeding. "You can really hurt your hand hitting someone if you don't know what you're doing. How many times did you hit him?"

"Three," I said. "But I think I caught his teeth. It hurts."

"It looks like it." He tucked my hand between us and pulled me closer. I leaned into his hard chest and inhaled his woodsy, male scent. My head was spinning from being so close to him. I rested my forehead against Holden and said,

"I thought you were done with me. You didn't call, and then Darren showed me a picture of you with a woman. I didn't know she was your sister."

"I don't think I'm ever going to be done with you, Josephine," Holden said in a low voice. I leaned back to look up into his warm brown eyes.

"I think I'm falling in love with you, Holden Winters," I said. "It's crazy, because I've only known you a week. So maybe it's just the amazing sex."

"It's definitely the sex. But I think I'm falling in love with you too, Josephine Miller. I don't care if it's only been a week. I know what I feel. When I thought you didn't want to see me—"

I placed a finger over his lips. I knew exactly how that had felt. He didn't need to tell me. And I was finished with talking. Sliding my hand around to grip the nape of his neck, I ran my fingers through his thick, silky hair and tugged.

Holden didn't need any more hints. Dipping his head, he brought his lips to mine, brushing over them in a slow, sweet kiss before urging my mouth open and sliding his tongue against mine. I dropped the ice bag on the floor and leaned into Holden, falling into his kiss.

It started sweet, but once I got the taste of him, my knees went weak, my pussy was wet, and the kiss turned hard and hungry. Holden backed me up to his desk, reaching behind me to shove a pile of papers to the side. They fell in a rustling cascade, spilling around our feet. Holden's hands slid beneath my sweatshirt. He gave a low hum when they encountered nothing but bare skin.

"No bra?" He murmured, dragging the fabric over my head.

"I was in a rush. I missed you."

My hands went to the fly of his jeans, my fingers fumbling on the snap, desperate to get to him, needing to feel him inside me again. He had no such problems, flicking open my jeans and peeling them down my legs so fast, it felt like magic. He went to his knees, one arm around my waist as he helped me lift my feet free. I stood above him, naked in his office, grateful he'd thought to lock the door with the deadbolt.

Holden looked up at me, catching my eyes with his. Leaning in, he hovered before my hips, his breath skating over my skin. Shivers ran down my spine at having him so close, at the sheer sexual intent in his eyes. Without looking, he opened the desk drawer and pulled out a condom.

He had condoms in his desk? Reading my mind, Holden shook his head, negating the thought before it could fully form.

"I share the office with Tate. But he won't mind me borrowing one," he said, his words sending puffs of air against my clit. I trembled. Maybe it was the arousal talking, but I said, "I don't care. I trust you, Holden."

I did trust him. I knew, in my soul, that I could trust Holden with my body and my heart. With my everything.

"I won't let you down, Josephine."

I opened my mouth to tell him I wouldn't let him down either, but all that escaped was a strangled squeak as the flat of his tongue came down on my clit. He pressed hard, then licked up, lifting my clit, tugging it, sending sparks of pleasure shooting up my spine. My legs shaking, I reached behind me to brace my hands on the desk, wincing at the pressure on my bruised knuckles.

A little pain didn't matter. I let my legs fall apart, opening for Holden's mouth, moaning aloud as he sucked my clit, his fingers sinking into my hips, holding me still as I squirmed.

"Holden," I cried out, tugging on his hair. As much as I loved his mouth between my legs, I wanted him inside me, fucking me, filling me up. I wanted to kiss him while he took me. I needed to feel so close to him, nothing could ever pull us apart again.

He rose to his feet, and I sat back on the desk, spreading my legs wider, watching with hungry eyes as he lowered his zipper and pushed his jeans down, freeing his thick cock. I'd never seen a cock like Holden's before. Not that I had a ton of experience, but his was thick and long, better than any I'd dreamed of in my hottest fantasies. My mouth watered at the thought of tasting him. Later.

I reached out with my legs and wrapped them around his hips, drawing him closer. He resisted, rolling on the condom. A heart beat later, he was on me, his hands everywhere, his cock pressing into my pussy, stretching me open, filling me up. I cried out with the sheer bliss of it, gripping him with my legs, my arms wrapped around him.

Holden's mouth came down on mine, kissing me with a desperate need as he fucked me hard. The desk rocked back, papers falling to the carpet, then something heavier, cracking to pieces. Holden didn't even slow down, driving me closer and closer to orgasm, kissing me and fucking me with everything he had. I held him tight, moving with him, my pussy clenching around him in hard pulses as he fucked me into heaven.

Holden followed me into release, burying himself to the hilt and freezing there, his arms steel bars around me, holding me to his chest. When his breathing evened out, he said,

"I don't think I'm falling in love with you, Josephine. I know I am."

I let out a shaky laugh, still reeling from the orgasm, my heart tight in my chest. I reached up to press a kiss to the hard line of his jaw, drawing a deep breath, filling my lungs with the potent scent of Holden and sex. Of us. Together. It was primal. Life itself. I had no hesitation when I said,

"I know it too. I love you, Holden."

We stayed there, wrapped in each other, until Holden helped me off the desk and into my clothes. I'd never been into the risk of being discovered. I still wasn't. There was no way I would have had half as much fun if Holden hadn't locked the door. But we were definitely having sex on his desk again. Looking down, I saw his laptop in pieces on the floor.

"Oops," I said. Holden followed my gaze.

"I backed it up," he said. "Right now, I couldn't care less."

He wrapped his arm around me, leading me down the hall, out the VIP door, and down the alley to a private parking area. I saw a sign for Tate, nailed to the wall above an empty parking place.

"Do you think Tate took Emily home?"

"I'm sure he did," Holden said. "He wouldn't have let her walk at this time of night."

"He asked her out, and she said no."

Holden burst out laughing. "It's probably the first time that's ever happened," he said.

"That's what I thought. He looked a little shocked," I said.

Holden started the car and turned down a side alley I hadn't seen, neatly popping out into the street around the corner from the club. He headed for his place, still laughing.

"I should call her," I said, mostly to myself.

"I think we left your phone in my office. The last I saw, it was on my desk."

"Oh." I hoped it wasn't in the same condition as his laptop. "Then I guess we'll have to find out what happened later," I said.

Holden took my hand in his, lacing his fingers through mine. "Later," he agreed. "I'm sure Tate got her home all right. We don't have to call. I went without you for almost four days. I have a lot to make up for."

That was fine with me. "Did you get your problems at work fixed?" I asked.

Holden glanced at me and said, "I did. Why?"

"I was thinking about bailing on my classes tomorrow. Maybe staying in bed all day," I said, keeping my face neutral, my voice even.

"Were you?" Holden asked, playing along. "I think a long weekend sounds like exactly what I need. As long as it involves you, naked. Bed optional."

"I can do that," I said, grinning at him, my heart swelling in my chest, the surge of joy at the love in his eyes almost too much to take. "As long as I'm with you, I have everything I need."

Holden parked the car, and I followed him to the elevator that would take us to his penthouse. Tomorrow was Friday. Barring any unforeseen crises, we had a three-day weekend stretching ahead of us, just Holden and me. Naked. I squeezed my legs together, feeling heat flood my pussy. We'd just had sex. How could I want him this much again? I remembered him unsnapping his jeans in his office and my plan to get my mouth on his beautiful cock.

Licking my lips, I glanced at the front of his jeans as the elevator carried us up to his floor. The second we cleared his door, I was going to strip him naked and have my way with him. Somehow, I didn't think Holden would mind.

The elevator doors slid open, and I stepped through, Holden's hand clasped in mine, ready for whatever was coming next.

Go out to dinner with me.

No, thank you.

The conversation echoed in my head.
No, thank you?
Had she really turned me down? I couldn’t remember the last time a woman turned me down. For anything. My first reaction was to ignore her and pretend I didn’t care.

I couldn't do it.

I had no idea what it was about this girl that had so captured my attention. I’d only met her an hour ago, but I wanted her. I’d gone over to her apartment, geared up to confront her roommate over dumping my cousin, when Emily had opened the door and I’d tumbled head over heels after one look. It was the oldest cliche and one I’d never believed. Until now.

Taken part by part, she wasn't anything special. She shouldn't have been. Medium height, a little on the tall side but not quite tall. Long, straight, dark brown hair. Creamy skin. Gray eyes. And very, very curvy. Her faded jeans fit her sweet, full ass to perfection, and her sweater hung loose off one shoulder, clinging to her round tits. Her clothes hadn’t been chosen to show off her body, but they were too well cut to hide it.