Very Bad Billionaires (7 page)

Damn it, she should be ecstatic. Welcoming of a chance to tarnish his image. But she wasn’t. She still wanted him to be happy, even if it meant losing him.
Wow. The car crash really did take the wind out of my sails
. Biting her lip, she glanced between the two men.

Turning to the paramedic, she smiled. “Give me just a minute, okay?”

“You’ve got two.”

She waited until he walked away before turning back to Alston. “Go home Alston. Go get some woman you can buy for a night who doesn’t come with real feelings. That way no one else can get hurt.”

“No. I’m not leaving without you.”

“I’m not your ward anymore. You can’t order me around.”

“I’m not ordering.” He fell to his knees in front of her and her mouth fell open. “I’m begging. Come home with me, Bryce. Let me make this right.”

“I should say no.”

“Don’t. Please, just hear me out.”

Bryce swallowed and glanced up to see the EMT with his phone out, holding it in front of him like he was taking a picture. Or a video.
Shit
. The tabloids. The news. The thought of Alston’s reputation and his business ruined because she wouldn’t get in his car. “Alston, get up. That jerk is taking your picture.”

Alston turned to the man and waved. “I don’t care. Let the whole world find out about us, Bryce. Let the whole world see how much I love you.”

Bryce blinked and sucked in a breath.
What?
“You can’t do this to me, Alston. You kicked me out. You called me…terrible things. And now you just waltz up here like I’ll take one look at you and melt into your arms?”

“No. I’m asking you to give me a chance.”

“I don’t know if I can.” She glanced up at the paramedic as he held the phone up high. They’d be all over the news. If Alston didn’t get that phone away from the guy, everyone would know they were…what? Lovers? Exes?

Alston stood up and she could see the anguish in the lines of his face and the pain in his eyes. Without the calm mask he always wore, he was raw. Vulnerable. Insecure. She swallowed. He’d just risked everything for her. Told her he loved her on camera. Probably made the wannabe paparazzo rich. As she let out a breath, Alston stepped closer and took her face in his hands.

“I’m sorry, Bryce. If you’ll come back to the house, I’ll explain everything. Why I doubted you. Why I don’t let anyone in. Please.”

Her eyes flitted to the side and the EMT.

“I love you, Bryce Meadows. And I don’t care who knows it.” Alston surged forward and kissed her. Hard and hot. She didn’t know if his proclamation of love in front of the world was enough. But it bought him a chance. She owed it to him after that.

He pulled back and she grimaced. “I don’t need to read the tabloids to know what they’ll say tonight.”

“Let them talk. Just say you’ll come.”

She nodded. “I will.”

Alston turned to the paramedic. “She’s coming with me. Your services are no longer needed.”

Without another wasted second, Alston escorted her to the waiting car. She slid into the passenger seat and laid her head back. It was just a conversation. She could always leave again. If it went south, maybe she’d help herself to another car.

Chapter Seven

Bryce sipped a coffee as she tucked her legs underneath her on the couch. Alston had brought her home, ushered her into the living room, and buzzed Malcolm to bring a tray before she’d even had time to breathe. And now she sat across from him, waiting for the answers to all her nagging questions.

As Malcolm slipped out of the room, Alston gave her a small smile. “I know you’ve always wondered why I’m so closed off. Why no one’s ever been a part of my life until you.”

She nodded and took another sip.

“It’s because of a woman. A girl, really.” Alston clasped his hands in front of him and rested his forearms on his thighs. “Bianca MacMillan. I haven’t said her name out loud in a very long time. Our families were neighbors in the Hamptons, and we spent every summer together. When we were both seventeen, we started dating in secret. Both our families had great dreams for us—matches that would advance the families, not our personal happiness.”

Bryce blinked. He didn’t get to choose his spouse? “That’s awful.”

Alston shrugged. “That’s wealth. Anyway, we…became involved in some heavy things. She introduced me to bondage, domination, more. She liked to be controlled and spanked, brought to the edge again and again. And the farther down that road we went, the more it turned me on. One night that summer, she called. Said her parents had left for the city and she had a surprise for me.”

He paused and swallowed, working his jaw before resuming the story. She could tell talking about it caused physical discomfort, if not pain. At last, he continued. “I came in and she’d set up this scene—a bench with chains and ties, a flogger, a whip, a whole set of devices. I couldn’t believe it. It was so far beyond anything we’d ever done. I was seventeen for god sakes.”

“What happened?”

“I just went with it. It was what she wanted, so I wanted it too. We’d worked ourselves up, me spanking her as she laid bound and gagged, ass up on this wooden bench. As she orgasmed, I entered her, fucking her harder than ever before. It was incredible. I thought I’d found the girl I was going to marry. My parents be damned.”

He ran a hand over his face and Bryce steeled herself for the rest. “And then it all went to hell. The front door opened and her father walked in.”

“What?” She almost spilled her coffee as she jumped forward on the couch.

“That’s what I thought.” He leaned back and dug his palms into his thighs. “There I was, balls deep in his daughter’s pussy while she laid on a bench, chained and gagged. It was horrifying.”

“I can’t imagine.”

Bryce shook her head in shock as Alston stood up. He walked to the windows and stared out at the lawn.

“Did he call the cops? Pull you away?”

“Worse. I stepped back and Bianca started screaming through the gag. When he’d freed her, she claimed I forced her. Said that I’d gotten her drunk and told her it was all a game. That I raped her.”

Bryce’s hand flew to her mouth. She knew he had a secret. Something terrible. But she never imagined something like this. That he’d be accused of something so heinous. “Oh, Alston. Tell me she recanted. That she admitted she lied.”

“I wish I could. But she didn’t. It was her word against mine. And all the evidence…”

“But she planned it. Set it all up.”

“Yes.”

God, people could be so cruel
. “Do you think…did she do it on purpose? To get caught?”

Alston swallowed and gave a brief nod. “I think so, yes. I found out years later that she’d slept with my brother. He was a few years older than us and a major asshole. Still is. He took her virginity and told all his friends what a shitty lay she was. I think it was her way to get back at the family. If she couldn’t ruin him, she’d ruin his little brother.”

“I’m so sorry. Did you—”

“Go to jail? No. Neither family wanted to press charges—bad publicity, you know. So my father cast me out. Refused to listen to a word I had to say and ostracized me. It was like I’d never existed. He settled with the MacMillans for some outrageous sum.”

Bryce set her mug down and walked over to Alston. She rested her hands on his back and he sagged into the window. She couldn’t imagine how he’d lived all these years with the fear and anger Bianca caused. The betrayal. But now she understood why he’d lashed out. Why he’d jumped to conclusions and pushed her away.

He wasn’t an asshole. He was protecting himself. Fear made you do outrageous things. She kissed his back through his t-shirt. “You thought I was doing the same thing. Lying to you so I could sell you out. Use you for my own gains.”

“I’m sorry, Bryce.” Alston turned around and she could see the hurt in his eyes and the shimmer of unshed tears. “I treated you no better than my family treated me. Jumping to conclusions, throwing you out. I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”

“Stop.” She looked up at him and smiled through tears of her own. “I’m sorry you suffered so much, Alston. I’m sorry you’ve been alone all these years—refusing to love in case you get hurt. But I promise, I’ll never intentionally hurt you. I love you too much for that.”

Alston smiled and wrapped his hands around her waist. “Oh, Bryce. Thank God I didn’t lose you.”

He nuzzled her neck and she let out a small laugh. “I’m sorry about your car. And the mirror. Oooh.” She winced. “And the diamond. I was kinda mad.”

Alston laughed and shook his head. “I don’t care. I’d get rid of all this if it meant keeping you.”

“Don’t do that! I love it here. And you know one place I especially love?”

“Mmm. Where’s that?”

“Your bed. How about we make up for lost time? There’s something I’ve been dying to do.”

Alston scooped her up like she weighed nothing at all, carrying her out of the living room and down the hall. “I’d be honored.”

* * * * *

Slipping into his bedroom, Alston toed the door shut behind him. He carried Bryce over to the bed, laid her down and smiled. He’d cycled through more real emotions in the past three days than he had in the prior three years.

And to think, it all changed with a last minute invitation to drinks. If he hadn’t succumbed to a moment of weakness, he’d never be standing there, staring down at his future as she sprawled out on his bed.

“Thank you for coming back with me. I won’t ever be able to apologize enough.”

“You might change your mind when you read the papers tomorrow.”

“I told you, I don’t care what the papers say. Let them gossip about us. Let the tabloids tell the whole world that I’ve taken advantage of you and that we’re wrong for each other. I don’t care about any of it anymore.”

“You should. It will ruin your company.”

“So what? I spent too many years of my life creating this perfect veneer, only living in a few twisted moments now and then. And look what it got me.”

“Billions of dollars?”

Alston snorted. “An empty house, a shallow life, and a woman I didn’t even know until she was almost gone.”

He stepped up to the bed and Bryce rose up onto her knees to greet him. Running his hand through her chestnut hair, he pushed back the strands to stare into her eyes. He’d been apologizing for hours, but there was one more he needed to get out. One he’d held back for eight long years.

“Bryce. I’ve never said this, but I should have. I’m sorry my employee took your mother’s life.”

“Alston, you don’t—”

“No, let me finish. It should never have happened. He should have known what to do. Not made such a mistake. I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

Bryce leaned back and looked up at him. “It’s not your fault, Alston. I don’t blame you for what happened. If the bank hadn’t been robbed, my mother would have deposited her paycheck and come home. Your employee was trying to protect everyone, not hurt my mother.”

Alston shook his head. “I’m still responsible.”

“How do you think Mr. Williams feels?”

“The security guard? I’m sure he felt terrible.”

“Shooting a bystander because he panicked and accidentally pulled the trigger made him feel more than terrible. I know—I tracked him down a few years ago, right after I’d turned eighteen.”

Alston stepped back. “You did?”

“Mmm-hmm. I wanted to meet him. To tell him I didn’t blame him. He’s a sweet man, Alston. Has a wife and grandchildren. He’ll never get over what happened. But we spoke and I gave him some closure.”

Alston ran his thumb over Bryce’s cheek. “You’re remarkable, you know.”

Bryce shrugged and ran her hands up his chest. “Thanks. But if you’re done apologizing, there’s so many other things I could think of doing.”

With a smile, Alston leaned over, pushing her back onto the bed as he climbed on top. He straddled her body, trapping her between his arms and beneath his weight. Sliding one hand up her side, he slipped it under her shirt and raked his fingers over her bra. She arched her back and he smiled.
So beautiful
.

The kiss started slow, his lips grazing hers, teasing with feather-light caresses until she moaned. Pressing harder, she opened up for him and he tasted coffee on her tongue. He lapped across her perfect teeth, flicked against the roof of her mouth. He wanted to claim every inch of her body—tease and touch and mark every freckle, every mole.

She was his and he was going to prove it. All night long.

Sliding his hand back down her side, he broke their kiss and grabbed her shirt, pulling it up and over her head. “So tell me, what do you want, Bryce?”

“I want you.”

“How?”

“Any way you want to have me.”

He almost growled in response. He loved her feisty, fireball nature when they weren’t in bed, but he loved this side of her even more. “Excellent. Because I know just what to do.”

In an instant, he unbuttoned her jeans, yanking them down her body before tossing them onto the floor. Her bra and panties came next.

“God, I love your body.” He ran his hands up her legs, over her full thighs, pausing to fondle her breasts. He’d never get enough of how her nipples pebbled with a single swipe of his thumb, how she arched her back to give him more, how she mewled like a kitten when he stroked her.

Pulling back, he slipped off the bed and she rose up with him, reaching out in protest. “No. Stay there and don’t move.”

Bryce fell back onto the bed and nodded. Alston padded over to the wardrobe, opened it up, pulled out a length of smooth, black rope, and closed the doors. Making his way over to the bed, he looked down at Bryce and smiled. “Give me your hands, wrists together.”

Her hands jutted out, wrist mashed against wrist as she bit her lip.

“Are you nervous?”

“No. Excited.” Her eyes sparkled.

With gentle pressure, Alston tied the rope around her wrists, securing the knots before guiding her back onto the bed. After looping the excess around the headboard, he climbed on top of the bed and positioned her body—arms up over her head, knees bent, pussy open and waiting.
Mmm. So nice
.

He affixed the rope to the headboard and gave it a tug.
Nice and tight. Excellent
. “I’d thought about more, but tonight is all about you, Bryce.”

She nodded and licked her lip and Alston inhaled through his nose. His cock already strained against his jeans and he hadn’t even made her come. He slid off the bed and walked around to the foot, grasping her knees in his hands before he pushed her legs apart. “I’m going to fuck you tonight, my dear.”

“Yes.” Bryce panted out the word, her pussy clenching in expectation as she talked.

“But first, I want you coming all over my face. I want you begging me to take you.”

He leaned over and blew a hot stream of air across her folds and she cried out, her hips rocking up to catch his breath. Sliding his hands down her thighs, he massaged her eager skin, rubbing and stroking and making her moan, before reaching out and licking her clit.

She cried out at the first swipe of his tongue, panting and moaning as he pinned her legs down with his hands. He lapped, swirling his tongue up and around, flicking the little nub back and forth until she thrashed beneath him. She tugged on the rope, thrusting her pussy up as she groaned over and over.

He’d never tire of her pleasure, of how she lost all control beneath him, giving in to all the feelings whooshing through her body. Wrapping his lips around her clit, he suckled and she screamed, the orgasm hitting hard and fast as he refused to let go.

She panted and moaned, riding out the pleasure, and he let go of one her legs, probing her entrance with his fingers before slipping two inside. Bryce convulsed on the mattress, hands jerking at the rope, head whipping up, eyes popping open to stare at him. She could beg him to stop, but unless she said the word, he was bringing her over the edge again.

As she stilled, he hovered above her bare mound, teasing her and prolonging her agony until he licked again. Shock waves rippled through her body as her muscles clamped down. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened and he curled his fingers. “Come for me Bryce, come again. Right now.”