The Billionaire's Secretive Enchantress (The Berutelli Escape) (18 page)

And she was all his.  “So you’re marrying me, right?”
he asked, changing the subject so they could get back to something more interesting.  Like getting her back into his bed now that all the confessions were finished!

Sierra paced in front of one of his windows, her hand pushing her hair back in frustration.   Suddenly, she stopped and glared at him. “Will you ever put yourself in that kind of danger again?”

Drake knew exactly the right answer.  “Of course not.  I’ll be too busy making babies with you,” he said and grabbed her around the waist, kissing her at the base of her neck, exactly where he knew she liked it.  “And you will be too busy loving me for anything else.”

“You think so?” she asked, but all of her willpower was draining away with his hands and his mouth doing those incredible things to her, making her knees weak so she had to lean against him. 

“I know this to be the case,” he replied, his hands moving underneath the yellow sweater.  “Despite the fact that you don’t have any underwear on, a fact of which I have been fully aware of during this entire conversation, mind you, but I have to let you know that you are wearing entirely too many clothes.  A point I’ve tried to make ever since you woke us up at that crazy hour.”

She laughed and tried to wiggle out of his arms.  “I’m not done being mad at you.  And you should be mad at me.”

He shook his head. “I refuse to blame you for the crimes of another human being.  Let them take responsibility for themselves. I, for one, am taking full responsibility for buying you the most beautiful wedding dress you can imagine.”

Sierra stopped with his words, love for this man washing over her in a wave.  “I could go for that,” she said softly.  And then laughed with delight when he growled, picked her up and threw her over his shoulder before carrying her into his bedroom.  She laughed again when he tore off his clothes but all of the laughter died when he dispensed with her remaining clothes.

When he came down over her, both of them naked and writhing together he said, “I love you.”

She smiled gently, loving this enormous m
an who could make her blood simmer with just a look and replied, “I love you too.”  With her fingers, she pulled his head down to hers and kissed him, reassuring him with her actions that she loved him with all of her heart. 

Sierra
slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling, not sure if she wanted to smile or cry. 

“I’ll take care of them,”
Drake said, pushing himself out of bed.  He wore pajama bottoms now because of just this type of thing. 

“I’ll help you.”

“No, you were up until one o’clock this morning with Mitchell.  Let me put them back to sleep.”

Sierra sank back into the pillows, grateful for the reprieve.  She loved her twins but they were definitely a handful.  At six months old, they were both sleeping through the night most
ly.  But every once in a while, Mitchell would need an extra feeding.  Lindsey didn’t want to miss out on anything so she woke up as well, commiserating with her twin brother’s hunger.

The crying stopped and Sierra listened, waiting.  Sure enough, a few minutes later, she heard his deep, vibrant voice.  She wondered how such a macho, muscular man could sing so gently to their twin babies. 

Unable to stay away, she pushed the sheets off of her and padded barefoot to the doorway of the nursery.  She didn’t interrupt the three of them, just leaned her head against the doorway, watching and listening as Drake sang their twins back to sleep. 

“You’re lurking,” he said softly when both babies were asleep in his arms, his strong arms cradling one in each arm as he rocked gently back and forth.

“You’re spoiling them,” she came back, walking into the nursery.  “I love you,” she said, putting a hand on the top of each of her children while she bent low and kissed her husband.  “They do too.”

“And you’re the sexiest mother I’ve ever seen,” he growled. 

Sierra laughed when she realized where his eyes were looking but she didn’t mind that he was looking down her night shirt.  “At least you still want me after these two,” she smiled.

His eyes heated with her words.  “If you’ll help me put these two back in their cribs, I’ll show you exactly how much I want you,” he came back.

Sierra’s smile was slow and wide, her body already heating with anticipation.  “My sister is coming for a visit tomorrow.  I don’t want to be too tired.”

He shook his head and stood up.  “Your sister is six month’s pregnant with your niece.  Take a nap with her later.” 

Sierra didn’t need to be told twice.  She took Mitchell out of Drake’s arms, cuddling him and kissing him gently as she laid him back in his crib while Drake carried Lyndsey to the other crib only two feet away.  When they were once more alone, Sierra turned to find Drake just looking down at his children.  “Thank you,” he said and Sierra felt it deeply.  It wasn’t just for their children or marrying him.  It was for everything they’d shared since the moment they’d seen each other across the pool from her father’s house so many years ago. 

“Thank you,” she came back and squeezed him, letting him know how much she loved him. 

“Who the hell are you?”

Sydney jumped and spun around at the harsh, deep voice behind her.  The tall, huge man behind her was more than terrifying.  He was….well, she couldn’t quite put an adjective to the feelings that were running through her at the moment, but it caused her knees to tremble and her heart rate to spin out of control.  She was eternally grateful that she was sitting down instead of standing, although that did put her at a height disadvantage. 

“I’m….uh…”  She was so flustered, she wasn’t exactly sure how to explain her presence.  It seemed that the man’s sudden appearance and his glaring, angry countenance had rendered her sense to be absent at the moment. 

Dominic Carson rolled his eyes, ignoring the lovely woman’s pale cheeks and the fasc
inating sparkle in those green eyes.  He was here to work and not gawk at some pretty face that decided to plunk down in his assistant’s chair.  “Okay, so you’re confused.  Get out of this area or I’ll call security.”

He stood there glaring at her and Sydney had a hard time maintaining her grip on the files that she was holding.  Placing them onto the desk beside her, she smoothed down her skirt and jerked her suit jacket over the front of her, hoping it didn’t look as messy as she felt.  “Actually, I’m your temporary assistant today,” she explained, clearing her throat when it sounded too mousy.  This man didn’t look like he would respect mousy. 

As she surveyed his tall, immaculately dressed and overly muscular frame, she suspected that this man didn’t respect many people, mousy or not.  That irritated her and she stood up straighter, unaware that her chin was jutting out with the defiance of his authority. 

“You’re too young and inexperienced to handle this job.  Go back to personnel and tell them to send me someone more experienced.”  He started to walk away, determined to dismiss the woman.  If he’d seen this woman in a bar or a restaurant, he’d definitely approach her.  But she was the soft, lush kind of woman that he wanted in his bed, not in his office. 

She stood there shaking, offended by his attitude by trying valiantly to be brave in the face of his withering glare.  “I was originally assigned to someone down on the tenth floor today, but too many people are out sick with the flu.  So when I arrived, your HR department ordered me to come up here and fill in for your assistant.  Apparently, no one else is available to assist you today, experienced or otherwise.  But since you seem fully capable of handling everything yourself, I’ll just take my leave.  I’ll stop by your HR department on my way out and let them know that you don’t require any assistance today, and probably for the next several days since the flu isn’t a one day condition.”

She turned on her barely presentable, obviously cheap shoe and pulled her worn out purse out of the drawer she’d stuck it into an hour ago.  Sydney didn’t bother to even look at the man as she walked towards the exit.

“Stop right there,” she heard him command.

She stopped, but there was a long moment while she silently debated the issue.  Her student loans piling up was the decision maker.  And the fact that she had only peanut butter and bread until she was paid next week since she’d just emptied out her bank account to pay her final semester’s tuition. 

Being a grad student was expensive but this job paid extremely well.  It would have taken her through the next month if she was careful. 

When he was standing over her once again, the trembling actually increased.  She wanted to slap him, to say something that would bring him down a peg or two, but she could barely speak with him towering over her like this. 

Dominic looked down at her, noting her trembling but respecting the fact that she was confident enough to stand up to him.  He wasn’t going to relent though.  If she was an idiot, he’d kick her out of here without pause.  “Can you type?”

Sydney blinked, surprised by the abrupt question.  “Yes.”

“And answer phones?” he snapped.

She tried very hard not to roll her eyes.  “Yes.”

Another long moment of silence where she stood trembling, wishing she could just slap his face and tell him exactly where he could shove this job. 

“Don’t mess up my schedule,” he snapped, then turned around and headed into his office.  “Judy has probably e-mailed a list of instructions and outstanding tasks to complete.  Make sure you get as many of them finished as possible in the next hour.”

Sydney resisted the urge to throw her purse at his back, relishing the idea of how surprised he’d be at the assault.  Of course, he’d probably have her arrested, but as he disappeared behind the double doors at the other end of the room, she wondered if it might be worth it. 

Remember her loans, she told herself and took a deep, calming breath.  This job paid three times the salary hourly rate as the other jobs she’d been doing lately.  When they’d offered her the role, she hadn’t understood why they would pay so much.  Now she grasped the problem.  It wasn’t the work.  In fact, she’d already finished all the items on Judy’s list and was working on filing the contracts that had been left on the corner of the regular assistant’s desk.  The only reason this job paid so much more than normal was because of that man and his horrible attitude!

Storing her beaten up, faux-leather purse back in the drawer, she almost fell into her chair but quickly pulled herself forward.  For a long moment, she just sat there, trying to calm herself, get her anger under control.  She really disliked that man.  She couldn’t ever remember disliking someone as intensely as she felt towards him. 

She glanced at his nameplate.  Dominic Carson.  As a grad student working towards her degree in psychology, she’d read studies about both his work style and the meteoric growth of his company.  He was a case study in work relationships, which was pretty ironic when she thought about her first confrontation of the morning.

“I can do this,” she whispered to herself and turned to face the computer. 

Dominic glared at the files neatly typed up on his desk with growing irritation.  How had the woman accomplished all of this already?  Even Judy wasn’t this good. 

As he flipped through the files, his eyes speed reading the words, he didn’t even find a damn error.  How was he supposed to get rid of her when she didn’t make any errors!

He couldn’t believe how quickly his body had reacted to her lush, feminine form as soon as he’d stepped off of the elevators a few moments ago.  He’d never reacted that strongly to any female but her figure, encased in possibly the worst and cheapest suit he’d ever seen in his life, was round in all the right places.  Full and lush and his hands actually ached to explore her curves.  She wasn’t fat, but nor could she be considered skinny either.  She was just…perfect. 

Mentally, he groaned and admonished himself to get a grip.  He had a busy day today with the final negotiations for a multi-billion dollar acquisition.  He couldn’t be distracted.  Unfortunately, even her facial features had struck him deeply.  He’d wanted to touch her, reach out and feel her soft, peach like skin.  When she’d glared at him with those blue eyes, he’d actually wanted to laugh at her courage.  Applaud her even! 

He’d never met anyone with as much daring in the face of his wrath before and he couldn’t help but be impressed. 

Damn, he wanted her!  Never had he been instantly attracted to any woman before.  From the time he’d made his first billion ten years ago, women had been throwing themselves at him.  At times it was merely a nuisance and other times his security team actually had to block their advances. 

And now he was going to be tortured for who knew how many hours by a woman he could easily spend the rest of the day in bed exploring and finding all her secrets. 

His computer pinged indicating that he had a message.  And damn if she hadn’t done it exactly right the first time.  The woman sitting out at Judy’s desk must be pretty smart if she’d already figured out the message system.  Judy constantly grumbled about its quirks and weaknesses. 

He pressed the message, already guessing what it was.  Sure enough, his first appointment had arrived and was waiting out in her area.