The Buchanan's Baby (Billionaire Romance) (Bought By The Billionaire Brothers) (9 page)

Shannon laughed without false modesty. “I knew I would.
My dad could grill anything and he taught me everything he knew. The competition was stacked from the start.”

Nolan grinned and kept eating. A man could get used to this. If it was true that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, Nolan had just lost more than a wager.

Dinner seemed to fly by and soon enough, after plenty of laughter and friendly banter, it was time for Shannon to put Aubrey to bed.
She paused, holding a sleepy toddler and looked to Nolan. “Did you want to put her to bed?” she asked tentatively, knowing she was taking a big risk in inviting Nolan to do something so personal to her.

“I don’t know what to do,” he admitted, swallowing what was likely a lump of pure fear if his expression was any judge. She smiled and handed Aubrey over to him. “It’s easy.
Usually, we do bathtime first but since she’s already so tired, we’ll forgo the bath tonight. Follow me,” she instructed as she showed him to Aubrey’s room. The crib dominated the tiny bedroom but it was cute and cozy in warm shades of pink and lavender. “I usually read her a story in the rocker and by the end, she’s usually out. Do you think you could handle that while I clean up the kitchen?”

Nolan stared at his daughter, a slow, adoring smile spreading across his lips and
Shannon had to steel herself against the butterflies that erupted in her stomach. Was there anything sexier than a man holding his child with obvious love in his eyes? Oh goodness, her ovaries were kicking in high gear because seeing that look in Nolan’s eyes just made him ten times sexier than he already was.

“I think I can handle that,”
he said, nodding as he sank into the rocking chair and accepted a book from Shannon. “The Pretty Pink Princess,” he read in a soft voice as Aubrey listened with rapt wonder, leaning against his chest as if Nolan was a part of their routine and not a stranger. Tears stung Shannon’s eyes as something heavy dragged on her heart and she backed out of the room before she started crying. If Nolan were a normal guy, maybe it would’ve worked out between them but Nolan was more than just a good guy she’d hooked up with. In fact, she wasn’t even sure he was a good guy at all. The stories she’d heard…they just didn’t gel with the man she saw in her daughter’s bedroom, reading a silly story to a toddler as if it were the most fascinating story in the world. Her father had always taught her to judge people by their actions and thus far, Nolan’s actions had been pretty above par. So what did that mean?

She didn’t know —
 all she did know was that Nolan had suddenly jumped a few notches on the sexy meter and she was trying hard to remember why it was bad idea not to throw her baby daddy down on the sofa and have her wicked way with him.

That would be bad, right?

So bad.

And so, so, awesome.

Nolan emerged from Aubrey’s bedroom fifteen minutes later and the softness in his eyes was the final straw. Shannon’s gaze traveled hungrily across the wide planes of his shoulders and down to the hard ridge of his stomach, knowing from past experience that a slightly furred trail of hair disappeared behind his zipper and lead straight to a cock that haunted her dreams and refused to leave her memory. Really, it was like fighting a losing battle, she justified to herself, as she poured fresh glasses of wine and met Nolan in the living room. He hesitated at the wine, saying with open regret, “I have to drive. I probably shouldn’t…”

“You don’t have to leave just yet, do you?” she asked, her heart beginning a rapidly accelerated beat as her adrenalin hummed with pent up sexual tension. It’d been so long. Her vibrator was good for a quick release but it didn’t compare to the feel of a man between her legs —
 specifically Nolan.

Nolan accepted the glass and read the look in her eyes. Suddenly, his gaze darkened and he said in a low tone, “You really ought to stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” she asked, touching the rim of the glass to her bottom lip.

“The last time I saw that look we ended up leaving a club together and fucking all night. That’s the kind of look I’m talking about. Unless you’d like a repeat of that night…I’d suggest you start thinking about puppies or kittens or basketball…whatever shuts down the engine.”

“What if I don’t want to shut it down?” she asked, holding her breath. What if he rejected her? Oh God, she’d die right there on the spot. But as he advanced, plucking her wine glass from her hand and pulling her tightly to him, she knew he wanted her just as badly as she wanted him and she nearly buckled. “Nolan,” she whispered, her head dropping back as he immediately nibbled the soft skin of her neck. “I know we shouldn’t but I can’t help myself. This doesn’t change anything, if we do this. Understand?”

He growled and the sound both thrilled and terrified her because she knew he was calling her bluff. Everything would change and they both knew it. She clutched at him, reveling in the way they fit together like two puzzle pieces and within a heartbeat he’d hefted her into his arms and her legs wound around his torso as their mouths found one another. Tongues and lips began a carnal dance as their lust climbed to a fevered pitch between them and Shannon no longer cared about the potential consequences. She’d been dreaming about Nolan since the day she’d walked away from his penthouse but she’d been too stubborn to admit that their one-night stand
could’ve been a prelude to many more nights together. She’d known he’d wanted more but for how long? She hadn’t wanted to be the one left behind when the time came and so had left first.

He carried her to the bedroom and quietly shut the door. His consideration of Aubrey, even in his lust-fueled haze, caused her to spiral deeper into a place she might never willfully return.

“God, woman,” he groaned, his hands filled with her ass. “What have I been missing all this time?” They tumbled to the bed and she rolled on top, ripping at his clothes as eagerly as he tore off hers. When they were blissfully naked, she realized with a hot flush of embarrassment that her body had changed since they’d last been together. Was he disgusted by her stretch marks? Did he notice that her breasts were slightly different after breastfeeding Aubrey for a year? He caught her hands just as she started to cover her breasts, his gaze hot. “You’re beautiful to me. More so than any woman I’ve ever seen. Don’t ever hide from me.”

“Pregnancy changes a woman,” Shannon said quietly, sliding her tongue along her lips as she gazed at him, feeling vulnerable and exposed. “I was afraid.”

He rose up and cradled her to him, the warm head of his cock nudging her. “Does this feel as if I’m disappointed in what I see?” he asked, his voice a sensual caress across her nerve endings. She shook her head with a shy smile. “I could never be disappointed in your body. You gave my daughter life,” he said, right before claiming her mouth again and plunging his tongue inside.

They rolled and he was on top, traveling down her body, raining kisses down her belly and across her hipbones until he came to the triangle of trimmed pubic hair. “Such sweet strawberry curls,” he murmured before delving straight between her folds without hesitating. God, Nolan knew what to do to a woman’s clit to make her squirm and cry out. Shannon thrashed her head, unable to stand the intense pleasure rippling through her but she tried to muffle her gasping cries for fear of waking Aubrey. The need to be quiet only intensified her pleasure as his clever tongue coaxed a monster orgasm from her.

“Ohh, Nolan,” she cried softly, rocking against the sensations cascading through her like a rainbow of sexual joy. “Oh, God…”

But before she could fully recover, Nolan had flipped her on her stomach and pulled her hips up. Her cheeks burned as she remembered what he’d done to her the last time she’d been in this position but her stomach muscles quivered with anticipation.
His hand explored the rounded curve of her behind and dipped into her feminine core to slide her honeyed juices along her cleft and her eyelids fluttered shut on a moan. “Yess,” she said in a low, urgent tone, arching her back for an easier entry. “Take me that way, Nolan. Please!”

“You have the most exquisite ass,” Nolan murmured, pushing his finger against her sphincter, testing its strength and coaxing it to open with one slicked digit. “I’ve dreamed of your ass so many times I’ve lost count. Do you dream of my cock fucking you?” he asked in a silky whisper, pushing his finger deeper inside her.

“Yesss,” she admitted on a gasp. “God, yes!”

“Say my name,” he instructed softly.

“Nolan,” she practically groaned, pushing against the digit buried in her ass. It was so sensually erotic to be impaled in such a personal place and Nolan made it so addictively pleasurable that she didn’t know how long she’d last. “I need your cock, Nolan. Please, please, please!”

“So pretty when you beg,” Nolan said, his voice warming with approval. Fresh arousal stabbed her as he withdrew his finger and replaced it with the head of his cock. He began the slow push and she opened for him, eager to feel him penetrate her completely
. “Tell me your fantasies, love,” he said with a grunt of pleasure as he seated himself more fully inside her. She groaned, unable to form words as the sensation of being utterly impaled swamped her ability to think clearly. “Tell me how you dreamed of my cock…”

“Every night,” she gasped, arching deeply to accommodate Nolan’s length. “I fantasized about you fucking me, like this, just like you did before. Ohhh, Nolan!” His thrusts became harder and her tightened, pearled nipples rubbed against the comforter, adding another layer of delicious sensation that nearly sent her tumbling over the edge.
“Oh God, I can’t hold back!” she admitted, shocked by how quickly she’d reached the point of no return but Nolan didn’t mind, in fact, he seemed just as wild to crash into that wall as she was.

“That’s it, baby,” Nolan encouraged her, his grip tightening on her hips. “Cum for me, sweetheart!”

Ahhhh! And there it was, crashing down around her, clenching every muscle and sending her spinning into an even more powerful orgasm than the first, as she gasped like a fish out of water, desperate for air. Nolan followed seconds later, pumping his cream inside her with wild, jerking thrusts until he withdrew and collapsed beside her, his spent cock dripping onto his leg as he breathed heavily, his arm thrown over his eyes.

“Oh Jesus,” he breathed, placing his hand on his heart. “I think I’m about to have a heart attack. That was intense.”

She could only nod; she didn’t trust her voice at the moment. She rose on shaky legs to clean up, still dazed by the intensity of her orgasm. She returned with a washcloth for Nolan and smiling, gently wiped his cock clean. “That was…” she was at a loss for words.

“As good as your steak,” he finished with a grin and she laughed softly, climbing back to the bed. He curled his arm around her and pulled her close.
Her eyes drifted shut and she fell into an immediate and almost drugged sleep. Her last thought before total oblivion was, she could get used to this…

Nolan knew the moment Shannon had fallen asleep. He
lay there, holding Shannon against him, quietly reflecting how perfectly they fit together. He’d never truly believed that bullshit before until this moment. Shannon was unlike any woman he’d ever met and she was as intoxicating as any drug. His grip tightened on her and she sighed in her sleep, her fingers curling against his chest reflexively. If he could bottle a feeling, this was the one he’d pick.

Shannon and Aubrey deserved the best in life. As his gaze traveled the tiny master bedroom, he realized he’d buy Shannon the moon if she so desired but she didn’t want anything so ostentatious. She didn’t trust extreme wealth nor did she want it. The problem, could he scale down his standard of living without feeling as if he’d downgraded into total poverty? Did the money matter that much to him?

He thought of how Dillon had walked away from the money and had made his fortune on his own. He’d never admit this to Vince but Nolan admired his older brother Dillon more than anyone in the world. Dillon had been brave enough to take on the unknown. Nolan had clung to his privilege and wealth in exchange for his dignity and self-respect. Maybe that was why he’d tumbled into such debauchery with so little of a fight. Knowing right from wrong — at one time, he’d been able to make that distinction. He wanted to be a worthy father for Aubrey. Being a part-time dad didn’t appeal to him at all. Not anymore. He’d been stupid to think he could be a Disneyland Dad. He wanted to read to her every night and watch as she learned to navigate the world.

That meant he needed Shannon in his world, too.

He realized, he was okay with that — more than okay.

For the first time ever, he fell asleep
with a woman in his arms — the woman of his dreams.

-10-

“Oh my God, it’s gorgeous!” CeCe exclaimed
with girlish delight, clapping her hands over her mouth before more squeals escaped. She turned to Shannon, excitement in her eyes. “If you don’t want it, I’ll take it! This is way better than flowers!”

Shannon, irritated to be dragged from her stack of assessments that had continued to pile up, exited the back door behind CeCe and stopped short in shock. “What the? That’s not mine,” she protested, but the big giant red bow on top of the car with her name blazoned across the ribbon was hard to refute. The team started to file out amid plenty of murmured chatter. The coach, Jonas Mickle, appeared and stared, his hands on his hips.