The Courtship Maneuver, Complete Series (An Alpha Billionaire Club BBW Romance) (8 page)

I
followed
Sam into the house, down the hall from the garage, and into the kitchen where he whirled on me, his eyes so angry they shot blue sparks. “What the fuck were you thinking, Chloe?” he shouted. “Do you have any fucking idea what you just fucking did?”

“If it was that dangerous,” I asked, “what were you doing there? If it was that bad, shouldn’t you have let Axel handle it?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Sam asked, his face openly disbelieving.

“No, I’m not kidding you. Tell me how it’s different. And watch your language,” I snapped.

“I will not watch my fucking language. It’s different in a thousand ways, Chloe. But do you want to know the most important one? Those guys have no interest in me. I’m just asking questions about a problem. Most likely, they don’t want me asking those questions, but that’s fine. They won’t run the risk of fucking with me because I’m too well-known, and I’ve got too much money to make it worth getting me interested in their shit. But you? You’re a beautiful, desirable, and very inexperienced woman stumbling in the middle of a shit storm she doesn’t understand.”

“What exactly don’t I understand?” I crossed my arms over my chest. I knew I wasn’t worldly, but I wasn’t completely naïve. Sam was making me sound useless and stupid, which was only pissing me off more.

“What you don’t understand,” Sam said his voice level and deadly, “is that you are not a
person
to men like that. You are a commodity to be bought, sold, or traded for something else of value. Beautiful women fall into their hands every day and are never heard from again.”

“Bought, sold, or traded? They
sell
women?” I asked, confused. I thought that was movie of the week stuff. I didn’t think it really happened.

“Tsepov personally owns three brothels. Two of them are above board. One of them defines sketchy. I’ve heard things about the way the women cycle through his houses. Stories that some of his girls are not there by choice. And when there are that many rumors, Chloe, there’s usually truth. And now you’ve been in his bar. I guaran-fucking-tee you he had surveillance on our table. So now he knows who you are. What you look like. You’re on his radar, which is the last place you should be.”

“Oh,” I said, at a complete loss for words. Of all the things I thought he’d be upset about, me being a victim of human trafficking had not been on the list. “You left without telling me. I went to your office, and you weren’t there.”

“THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST GONE BACK TO BED!” Sam yelled.

“Stop shouting, you’ll wake up your Dad.” I hissed at him, suddenly remembering that Daniel was somewhere in the house. It was a big place, and his rooms were on another level, but the last thing I wanted, or needed, was another overprotective male wandering into this conversation.

“It’s my fucking house, I’ll shout if I want to,” Sam said, at a slightly lower volume than before. Nether of us were doing a very good job at being sensible or reasonable. Between me running off to find him at the bar, which I admitted to myself was a bad idea, and Sam yelling at me over his right to yell, we were both acting like children.

“And watch your language,” I unwisely said again.

His eyes flared, and he reached out to grab my arm, dragging me down the hallway that led to his bedroom and office. I had to scramble to keep up, stumbling once in my wedge sandals. When I faltered, Sam kept going, sweeping me up in his arms and tossing me over his shoulder as he had the night before. I hit his back as hard as I could shouting, “PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN, YOU BASTARD!”

He ignored me completely. Shoving open the door to his room with one booted foot, Sam dumped me back on my feet, and kicked the door shut behind him, catching my arm when my heel twisted beneath me. He stepped away as soon as I was steady, glaring at me.

“Better?” he asked with a sarcastic sneer. “I promise you Dad can’t hear anything from my rooms when he’s downstairs. I’ve had plenty of proof. We can be as loud as we want and he won’t hear a thing.”

I felt the blood drain from my face as I realized what he’d said. He wasn’t talking about yelling. At least not in a fight. He was talking about women. All the women he’d fucked in here and not had to worry about how loud they were. Suddenly, our fight seemed ridiculous. A sick ball of regret and pain grew in my stomach, and I sank to the edge of the bed, my eyes on the carpet.

What was I doing? Why had I even gone to the bar?

Because I was mad he’d walked out on me. But that was stupid. We shouldn’t have been kissing in the first place. I should have been glad he’d left. Sam wasn’t mine. He’d never be mine. First thing in the morning I had to leave here and find somewhere else to stay. Maybe see if I could hire Axel to protect me until we found Nolan. Anything to get away from Sam.

“Chloe,” he said, his voice still loud in the suddenly silent room. “That wasn’t what I meant. I’m sorry, I was angry and-”

“Just go away Sam,” I said, unable to look at him. My lungs were tight and I could feel the beginnings of tears prickling my eyes. I didn’t want to cry in front of Sam. “I’m tired and I want to go to sleep.”

“No, Chloe. Just look at me. I’m sorry I said that.”

“It’s fine Sam. I’m fine.” I kept my eyes down, my fingers plucking absently at the comforter, waiting for him to go. I didn’t recognize my own voice, tight and thick with unshed tears.

“Chloe,” he said, getting to his knees in front of me to force me to meet his eyes.

After a moment, I did, and his tortured gaze trapped mine. His face was so pained, I couldn’t look away. He took my restless hands in his and held them tightly, rubbing my palms with his thumbs.

“Chloe, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I was angry. I don’t think you understand how much you scared me tonight. You didn’t see the way they looked at you. The pool hall was one thing, and letting Feliks see you wasn’t good. But he’s not even officially working with Tsepov. He’s not a real danger. Dog
is
. That bar is more than a front for a poker room, it’s one of the places Tsepov uses as a base. He may have been there tonight, watching the whole thing. I can’t keep you safe if you throw yourself into danger.”

“I didn’t know,” I whispered. I’d had an idea going to the bar wasn’t a great idea, but as far as I’d known, it was just a bar. Maybe it was going to be a little rough, but I didn’t know anything about brothels and women forced into selling themselves.

“I didn’t know,” I said again, feeling low and useless. Not only had I discovered my brother was in far worse trouble than I’d thought, I’d managed to get myself into trouble too. I was a joke, trying to look out for Nolan and me. All I did lately was mess things up worse.

“I didn’t tell you,” Sam said, trying to catch my eyes again. “I didn’t think you’d go there. I wasn’t planning to go. I was going to let Axel handle it. But then things got out of control in the garage and I thought it was better if I left for a while.”

“I wish you’d said something. If I’d known how bad it would be, I wouldn’t have gone, even if I was mad at you.”

Sam let go of my hands and braced his palms on either side of my legs. With the difference in our heights and the low bed, his head was almost level with mine even though he was kneeling. He traced one finger down my bare arm and asked,

“You came to find me? Before you left?”

I nodded.

“Why? Did you need something?”

I didn’t answer, too embarrassed to admit why I’d gone to find him. Especially after the reminder of how many other women he’d made love to on this bed. Beautiful women. Sexy, skinny, perfect women. I didn’t fit with Sam, no matter what he’d said that morning.

“Clo? Tell me.”

“I just… I wanted you to-” I froze, unable to say it. Sam stared at me, his eyes on mine, tentative. Hopeful. I don’t know where I got the courage. I couldn’t find the words to say what I’d wanted. What I still wanted. Instead, I showed him.

I
leaned forward
the few inches separating me from Sam and pressed my lips to his. I don’t think I’d ever initiated a kiss with a man. Aside from pressing my lips to Sam’s, I didn’t know what to do. When we’d kissed before, I hadn’t put much thought into what I was doing. Forget much thought, I hadn’t put any thought into it. Sam had kissed me and my body had taken over.

There was a moment of doubt. That he would reject me, that I was doing it wrong, before Sam groaned and his arms closed around me. His lips took mine, deepening the kiss, his tongue rubbing and tasting in a dance that stole my breath. He rose above me, sliding me onto the bed until I was flat on my back. My legs spread and my knees came up to grip his hips as I felt his weight pinning me down.

His kiss made me crazy. The taste of Sam in my mouth, the citrus and spice scent of him, his big, hard hands, one on my waist and the other on my face. My hips rolled beneath him, my body urging me on, demanding more even though I didn’t know how to ask for what I needed. I didn’t have to. For the first time I was grateful for Sam’s experience. He knew exactly what to do. He just didn’t move fast enough.

Breaking our kiss, he sat up, kneeling between my spread legs. His eyes, sharp and hot, raked my body, his breath coming in short pants, exactly like my own.

“Chloe, honey,” he said, his voice growly and low. “I need to know that you understand where this is going. That you want this. You have to tell me. I’m not going to take advantage of you.”

“I do,” I said, squirming beneath him, clamping my knees to his thighs and lifting my hips just a little. I didn’t really know what I was doing, or why. I just knew my body needed to move and Sam was so still, watching me. His eyes, flaring every time I shifted, only made me more restless. “Sam, please.”

Sam trailed a finger up my leg from my ankle, still wrapped by the sandal strap, up my calf, past my knee to my thigh. I shivered from the deliberate touch. “Have you done this before, Chloe?”

I nodded. “Once,” I admitted. Sam’s eyes went white hot.

“Just once?” he asked in a tight voice. “How long ago?”

His finger traced circles on my upper thigh, distracting me from his question. I managed to answer, “In college. But I didn’t-”

“Shh.” Sam’s finger left my leg and dropped over my lips. “Was it bad? Did he hurt you?” I shook my head. It hadn’t been bad. It just hadn’t been good enough to try again.

“Good. This will be different.”

I nodded again, eager for Sam to stop talking and get on with it. His erection pressed against his pants, long and thick. He wanted this as much as I did. I didn’t want to talk about it. I wanted to touch him. To feel him inside me.

“You want me to make love to you, Chloe? You want me to fuck you?” he asked, his finger gone from my mouth and back on my thigh, this time tracing those teasing circles on the tender, sensitive flesh on the inside, less than six inches above my heated pussy. I wiggled, hoping it would encourage him to slide his fingers a little lower, but he ignored me. “I need you to say it, Clo. I promised you I wouldn’t take advantage of you. That I wouldn’t do this until you asked. So if you want it, ask me.”

“Sam,” I whispered, raising my hands to the hidden button between my breasts. “Fuck me. Please.”

“You’re sure?” he asked, lifting my right foot to his shoulder, stretching my leg straight, the position sending me off balance, leaving me deliciously vulnerable before him. But this was Sam, and I liked being vulnerable to Sam. I could trust him with this. With precise movements, he unfastened the tiny buckle holding my sandal on my foot and slid it off. He placed my now bare foot on the bed beside his knee and lifted the other leg, slowly and carefully removing that shoe as well.

My breath catching in my chest, I undid the button between my breasts, but left the dress closed. Dropping my hands to my waist, I slipped the other hidden button free and carefully untied the belt that was the only remaining thing holding the dress together. Sam licked his lips, dropping my second sandal on the floor at the end of the bed and gently arranging my foot in the same position as the other. Sucking in a breath for courage, I drew open my dress and bared my almost naked body.

Sam made a choking sound in his throat as he looked at me. I started to get nervous. I wasn’t exactly a small woman. And I’d never been naked in front of a man. The one time I’d had sex in college we’d been under the covers in the dark and he hadn’t seen anything. This was different.

My whole body was exposed except what was covered by the black lace bra and panties, and they didn’t cover much. I started to grab for the edges of the dress, intending to pull it closed, when I saw Sam’s hands, hanging by his sides, trembling.

His chest rose and fell as he remained where he was, motionless, kneeling between my legs, his eyes moving over every inch of exposed skin. His tongue came out to lick his lower lip. He blinked. But he didn’t move. The almost imperceptible shake of his hands gave me courage.

Sam wasn’t disgusted by my body. He wanted me. So much so that he was frozen, waiting to be sure. I couldn’t reach the clasp of my bra, so I did the next best thing and pulled down the straps, peeling the lace over my breasts until they were completely bare and sliding to the sides without the bra to hold them up. My nipples beaded into tight knots as his eyes fastened to them. One hand reached out, his fingers almost pinching together before his arm fell back to his side.

Emboldened, I dropped my hands to my hips, wondering what it would take to break Sam free from his immobility. I didn’t have to wonder for long. I hooked my thumbs in the sides of the black lace panties and began to work them down my hips when Sam said, his voice hoarse,

“Stop.”

I did, the panties caught just above my hips. Sam was off the bed in a flash, standing at the end, gripping my legs behind my knees to drag me toward him until my rear end was almost falling off the mattress. He let my legs dangle and leaned over me, quickly undoing my bra and yanking my dress away until I was truly naked except for my barely on panties.

“Chloe,” he said, stroking his hands over my skin, touching my legs, my waist, weighing my breasts and exploring my elbows with equal attention. “Chloe. So perfect. So exactly right. I’ve been dreaming of this.” He pulled my panties off in one swipe, tossing them over his shoulder.

Then he was on his knees, his shoulders pushing my legs wide, his face inches from my pussy. I was exposed, open to him in a way I’d never experienced before. I didn’t have time to get scared. His palms came down on my inner thighs, spreading my legs even wider as his mouth dropped between them.

I gasped from the intimacy of being touched there, from the soft, slick stroke of his tongue over me in a place I’d barely touched myself. When he took a deep breath, as if smelling me, I squirmed. But when he sighed and laid his cheek on my hip, just staring at my bared pussy, my heart ached. A moment later, Sam was all business, and I came close to losing my mind.

I’d had an orgasm before. I think. I would have sworn I had before I learned what a real orgasm was from Sam. His mouth was just the beginning. He licked at me, tasting me, pushing his tongue deep inside where I was already wet and ready for him. When I couldn’t stop squirming, he used his hands to hold me still, pulling back on my pussy to reveal my clit, swollen and flushed. His tongue stroking that little ball of nerves had my head rolling against the bed, keening whimpers coming from my open mouth.

I hadn’t known anything could feel that good. Hadn’t imagined it. His lips locked onto my clit and sucked, then licked, then sucked again, working my pussy until I exploded in an orgasm that was unlike any pleasure I’d felt before.

Sam wasn’t done after that. He waited, again resting his cheek on my hip as I shivered and panted for breath. He’d shrugged off his shirt at some point and the sight of his broad, muscled chest was enough to get me hot all over again. I’d seen Sam without a shirt once before, at a company party on Lake Mead, and the sight had branded itself on my mind.

Tanned skin, defined pecs, a six pack leading down into a chiseled V of muscle between his hips. Kneeling at the end of his bed as he was, I couldn’t see more, but I wanted to, just as that day at the lake I’d longed to peel off his trunks and see what he looked like fully naked instead of just half. I was propping myself up on my elbows to get a better look when Sam’s hand fell between my legs, one finger probing the entrance to my body.

The sensation of being stretched sent a tremor through me. I collapsed back into the mattress, opening my legs even wider, lifting my hips in unspoken invitation.

“Sam,” I moaned, saying so much more in my head.
Please
, and
more
, and
I want it
. All that came out, after his name, was incoherent babbling.

“Shh, Chloe. It’s okay.”

He rubbed at my clit, sending more shivers through my body as his finger worked its way deeper inside me, opening my body in a way it hadn’t been in so long, and then not very well. I was just getting my bearings when a second finger joined the first, the two thrusting inside me, stretching as they teased my swollen flesh. My hips pressed into his hand, thrusting up, my body falling out of my control. I didn’t know if I was supposed to stop, or if I could stop. I only knew I wanted more.

His mouth took me to the edge of orgasm again, sucking and licking at my clit as his fingers fucked in and out of me, my hips rocking hard, taking as much as he could give me with just his hand. His two fingers were bigger than anything I’d felt before, and I knew they weren’t close to the size of his cock.

Just thinking the word cock, thinking about Sam’s cock replacing his fingers, was enough to tip me over. Pleasure, sharp edged and white hot, ripped through me. I think I screamed. I know I called his name, chanting
Sam, Sam, Sam
as I fell off the edge of the world.