At the Billionaire's Pleasure (Billionaire Brothers Series 1)

by M. G. Morgan

  His expression was all business and I knew he wanted answers. He didn't even need to open his mouth to ask me what I meant. I could simply tell from the look in his eyes, the set of his jaw and the way his fingers brushed ever-tightening circles on my chin.

  "I mean, you're David Ashcroft. Business man extraordinaire. You don't need to build up courage for anything, let alone asking someone like me out..."

  For a moment David's expression was one of utter confusion, until finally he seemed to understand what I was saying. "You think I didn't struggle with the idea of asking you out?"

  I tried to duck my chin down again but this time David was having none of it. He held my face tight and forced me to meet his gaze.

  "Yes, that is exactly what I think. The only thing that might have been a struggle would be asking someone who looks like me out... I'm not exactly your typical type... I don't exactly fit the supermodel mould you seemed drawn to..."

  "So you think that because I dated slim women in the past that you can automatically put me in a little box? That you know how I think or how I feel or how much courage I need to build up in order to ask out the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on in my life?"

  My mouth dropped open and the air caught in my lungs... There had to be a mistake... There was no way he could possibly think of me in that way... It just wasn't possible. Men didn't see me like that. I wasn't beautiful and I certainly wasn't the most beautiful woman they could lay their eyes on... I remembered back over the parade of beauties I had been witness to. Each one of them would leave me far behind in the beauty stakes and yet not one of them seemed to last much longer than one date...

  In fact, if memory served me correctly, many of the dates had been business functions of some type or other. And there were often occasions where David had rung the women up to cancel before the date ever happened. He had been a very gracious gentleman, sending them apology flowers and little gifts but he was the one-date-wonder... Or at least that is how I had known him... That was until he asked me to go to the bathroom and remove my panties, starting our own little affair.

  "You can't mean that... I'm not..."

  "Not what, Carrie? Not beautiful? Don't give me that bullshit. You know how I see you. You know I find you irresistible. It is for that very reason that you are even alive. I couldn't stay away from you that evening. I had business to finish up, calls to make. But seeing you in that dress and knowing what lay beneath it was enough to have me call off all of my business plans for that evening and follow you down to the beach. If I hadn't... Or if I had just gone down with you in the first place... Goddammit, Carrie, but you frustrate me sometimes."

  He turned away from me and moved to the door.

  "David, I..."

  "Just don't say another word. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to show you what I think of you and how beautiful I really believe you are but I'm going to have to figure out a way..."

  He stalked out of the room and pulled one of the security guards with him. "I need to talk to your manager. What happened here today is unacceptable... I want Miss Grant moved immediately..."

  His voice faded away as he moved down the hall. I wrapped my arms around my body and shivered. It was all far too much to believe. Robert and David and everything that had happened. Part of me wished that what had occurred with Robert had been a dream but I knew better. I also knew that the moment I tried to close my eyes and sleep that his face would haunt me.

  The things he had said to me. The way he had threatened me... I hadn't told David but I knew I was going to have to. But after everything that had just happened between us and the way he was blaming himself for what had happened in the first place, I was unsure how I could tell him. What if he blamed himself even more? And worse, how far would he go to protect me? The last thing I wanted was David getting himself into trouble with the law because of me or getting hurt because of something Robert did.

  I chewed my lip nervously as I waited for someone to come and tell me I could go back to my room. If David was moving me out of the hospital then where was he taking me to? I could only assume it wasn't back to the island hotel. Perhaps he was taking me back to the city and my own apartment. A sigh of relief escaped me as I imagined curling up on my own sofa with a large glass of wine. If I needed anything right now it was my own familiar surroundings. I was worried about Robert and what he planned to do but a naive part of me hoped he’d had enough. Today in the hospital and the close call he had encountered might have been enough to frighten him off. I hoped it was true. But it was a very small hope.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  "The car will be here shortly." David's tone was curt and cold.

  Swallowing, I pushed the last of my clothes back into the bag he had brought to me earlier in the week. I hadn't needed much in the way of clothes. Spending time in a hospital was good for the dry cleaning bills. Standing straighter I studied David's back. He stood rigid and on guard, his back facing me as he watched the people moving up and down the hall. It was as though he was preparing for Robert to come back at any moment.

  Robert's threats drifted back to me then. He had promised to get me when David was at his most protective. That the guilt of knowing no matter what he did that he couldn't save me would crush him. I swallowed back the fear and cleared my throat. All it was, was threats. Robert wasn't here now, he couldn't hurt me. I wouldn't let him.

  "We need to talk," David said. The words came out so low I barely caught them. The only reason I heard him was because I was so attuned to his every movement and breath. I knew every beat of his heart and each breath he took. We were connected. He was a part of me now.

  I sat on the edge of the bed and prepared to have him talk at me. He was so angry from earlier that it made sense that he would talk at me. Anger made him even more dominant than usual. He turned and caught sight of me watching him intently.

  "Not here. We can talk privately in the car..." He moved to me and my heart lifted thinking he was going to reach out, to touch me in some small way, but he didn't. Instead he grabbed my bag from the bed and lifted it into his grip. "Are you ready?"

  He didn't wait for an answer and instead turned and moved swiftly to the door. I followed him at a much slower pace. Stepping out through the door it was then I caught sight of the large burly man dressed head to toe in black. If he had intended to blend in then he was failing miserably. I stifled a giggle with my hand as I followed David down the hall and into the elevator.

  We remained completely silent as we exited the elevator and moved to the desk where I would sign the last of my release forms. Most of the paperwork had already been taken care of, all except for this final slip of paper.

  The doctors had been reluctant to just sign me out of their care. Private insurance provided the best possible care but it also meant that the doctors sometimes became over cautious. They had fretted that this morning’s ordeal would cause symptoms that might appear later. Shock had a nasty habit of creeping up on unsuspecting victims. But I was ready for it. I knew part of me was still in shock after what had happened. And I had no doubt that the dreams would be truly horrific. The more my memory was jogged into place the more the fear of what was to come tried to paralyse me.

  I took the pen the nurse offered me and leaned down over the papers on the desk. My hand began to shake making it impossible to scrawl my signature across the box. I clamped my free hand across my wrist and tried to hold it steady but it was no use. The more I tried to steady my hand the worse the shake became. It spread then, up through my arms and down my torso into my legs.

  I gripped the counter as the nurse looked at me with concern. David's hand slipped over mine. His chest pressed reassuringly against my back and he steadied my entire body with his embrace.

  "I have you, Carrie. It's alright." He brushed my hair aside and whispered the words directly into my ear. I instantly started to relax, my entire body melting in against him. Without thinking, I dashed my signature across the bottom of the page and
David manoeuvred me away from the desk. He kept his tight grip on me as he walked me to the door and out into the sunshine.

  The feel of its warmth on my skin served to steady me further and inch by inch the fear and adrenaline relinquished its hold on my body leaving me feeling bone-achingly tired. Making it to the car, I sank into its soft seats with a sigh of relief. I wanted to sleep wrapped in David's arms. I needed sleep. Although I had spent three whole days unconscious, I was still exhausted. And now that the adrenaline and the high after Robert's newest attempt were fading rapidly I was even more exhausted.

  David slid into the seat beside me and pulled the seatbelt around my body and clicked it into place before he did the same for himself. He sat as close to me as was possible without actually pulling me into his lap, and slid his arm around my shoulders.

  "I know what he said to you..."

  David's words hung between us like a small, angry black cloud. It snapped me out of my exhaustion and a headache began to spread behind my eyes. I could feel the tension singing through David's body. The way his hand rested across my shoulders—it wasn't calm or relaxed. The press of his thigh against mine pushed his anxieties through the denim of my jeans.

  "Why didn't you tell me?"

  "How could I? I knew how you would react. And we both know it's just idle threats..."

  The car moved away from the curb and the look David shot me was filled with anger.

  "He has tried to kill you twice. He broke into the hospital and attacked you in the hospital and gravely injured a nurse. He promised to get you. That he will kill you, when I am doing my utmost to protect you. That it won't matter what I do, he will kill you anyway. And you think that is an idle threat?" David let out a frustrated sigh.

  "I think it's idle because the police will catch him long before then. I can't allow the fear of what might happen rule my life..."

  "You don't understand, do you? Carrie. He is dangerous. You should have told me what he said. You should have at least trusted me enough to tell me..."

  It was my turn to let out a frustrated sigh. I shrugged out of his grip and pushed my hand back through my hair. "You really think I don't understand? David, honestly? I'm the one wearing his bruises around my neck. It's my head he tried to bash in on the rock. It was my life he tried to take. Mine. Not yours. Not anyone else’s. Mine. I understand well enough but I'm not prepared to become his victim. I'll have plenty of that when I close my eyes at night." Tears threatened to spill down my cheeks but I held them at bay by pinching my leg. The pain helped me focus. Helped keep me calm and stopped me from wanting to scream.

  David ran his hand across my thigh before he gently took my hand in his. The gesture was almost enough to undo my progress with my emotions but I held them in check.

  "I just can't bear to think of anything happening to you. The more I know, the better chance I have of protecting you. That is all. You mean everything to me, Carrie. The sooner you understand that, the better."

  The car ran over a bump jolting my hand out of David's and the car turned down and in to a gravel drive. I didn't pay too much attention to where we were headed. Instead all of my attention was focused on the man before me. The intensity in his eyes made me swallow with nervousness. I had witnessed David's intensity before but nothing like this. He meant every word he said. I could feel it.

  The car rolled to a halt and it was then I turned my attention to where we were. The house that stood in the large sweeping driveway was huge. The stonework was a work of art in itself and I could tell the house was worth a small fortune. It was the type of house I could imagine gothic heroines running from when the bumping in the closet turned out to be much more than a mouse.

  David noticed my shocked expression and a smile spread across his lips. "Welcome to my home. Well, my childhood home. It's my parents’ house but they prefer to spend their time abroad. Mother likes the warmth and father will give her anything she wants."

  I turned terrified eyes to David and gulped. "Your parents aren't here, are they? Not now?"

  David's smile grew even wider. "No. As I said, they prefer being abroad. They never come back here. It has some bad memories so they leave it to me and Aaron to use when we see fit."

  I let out a shaking breath and turned to look up at the house once more. It was stunning. The windows sparkled each time the sunlight hit them and the huge oak door was already ajar as though we were expected. That wasn't what truly caught my eye though. It was the sight of a tower attached to one end of the house. It mesmerised me and I imagined what it would be like to climb the stairs to the top, to stand and look out upon the countryside surrounding the house. It was like something from a fairy tale.

  I jumped when the car door opened and the bodyguard dressed head to toe in black held it. David's laugh made me want to slap him, but it was nice to hear him so relaxed. Since the situation with Robert had developed, David hadn't been himself. He was always tense and on guard as though expecting someone to jump out at him at any second and steal me away. It was hard to watch him behave that way. Part of me wondered how I was behaving. Perhaps it was the fear in me that was causing such a reaction in David. Could we truly be such mirrors of each other?

  "Wait until you see the inside. You'll love it." David sounded so excited as though he had truly found the most exciting thing ever and he wanted to share it with me.

  I climbed out of the car and gripped his arm tightly to steady myself. The blood rushed to my head and I felt slightly faint. Even though I was recovered it still didn't stop me from having funny moments. The feeling passed in an instant and David held me tightly as though ensuring that I wouldn't disappear.

  "Are you alright? Perhaps this is too much?"

  I grinned at him then and gestured to the house. "Are you kidding me? I get taken to beautiful, gothic mansions all the time. This is just one in a long line of gothic mansions..."

  His lips crushed mine and stole my breath. His steady grip was the only thing that kept me on my feet as he deepened the kiss. I moaned softly against him as his hands pressed into my back and he nibbled slowly along my lips.

  He drew back slowly and broke the kiss. I kept my eyes closed for a few seconds savouring the taste of him on my lips. When I opened them I couldn't help but smile. David's eyes were filled with happiness and something else. I knew the look. I had fallen prey to it several times. It was the look of lust. The look that David used on me that told me all of the things he wanted to do to me then and there—the way he would take my body and use it for his pleasure, sending me to new unexplored heights. I could feel things tighten low in my body and it made me want to take his hand and find a secluded corner. To me it felt like an age since he had done to me everything his eyes promised.

  As though he could read my thoughts, he let out a low chuckle. "Later, my love, I promise. For now let's go inside."

  We made our way into what appeared to be the hallway, except calling it a hall would have been an insult. The space itself was as big as my apartment. I stared around me at the wall hangings, drinking in the rich atmosphere and the smell of wood polish.

  David's hand pressed against my lower back and I jumped, a small squeal escaping my lips. He took my hand and led me into one of the many rooms that were adjacent to the hall. The sitting room was beautiful and opulent. The crystal chandelier glittered each time one of the sunbeams hit it.

  I let my eyes roam around the room until they came to rest on a man sprawled across the chintz sofa. He stirred as David and I entered the room and I realised it was Aaron.

  "So this is where you hide out when you're not torturing your brother," I teased gently, a small smile creeping across my lips as Aaron grinned at me.

  "They let you out of the hospital? I thought you were in there for another few days at least. David seemed to think you would be?" He turned an inquisitive look to his brother but I piped up before David could open his mouth.

  "There was an incident, so I left early."

  Aar
on's expression immediately grew serious. "Incident?"

  "Robert, paid her a visit this morning. Threatened her. Said he was glad he didn't succeed the first time because now it means that he can cause even more pain. Plans to do her in when I'm on edge trying to protect her... I won't let that happen, Aaron, I can't..."

  Aaron shook his head and let out a sigh as he sat upright on the couch. My shoulders were stiff from holding all of my anxieties inside and I attempted to release them all. I breathed out, a loud sigh escaping me. David wrapped his hand in mine as he led me towards the sofa opposite Aaron. He sat and pulled me down beside him. His thigh pressed tightly against my leg, practically burning a hole in my jeans with the heat that was coming off his body.

  "I don't understand, how did he even get into the hospital? How did he know where to go?" Aaron asked, running his hand across his face.

  "It’s been all over the news," David answered.

  I spun around to face him, all the blood draining from my face. "What do you mean all over the news?"

  David looked sheepish and dropped his gaze to his hands.

  "What do you mean all over the news, David? And why haven't I heard of this before now?" Anger was causing my blood pressure to rise. I could feel it beginning to boil in my veins and I held onto it. Anger was something I could control. Something I could use in the situation that was spiralling rapidly out of my control.

  "Well, you were almost killed, Carrie. Something like that would be all over the news..." I could tell from the way David refused to meet my gaze that he was holding something back. Something I would have a major problem with.

  "Tell me the truth." I tugged my hand out of his and narrowed my eyes. I wasn't going to be fobbed off. And I certainly wasn't in the mood for coy word games.

  "Fine. I'm the owner of a large company. I spend a lot of time in the limelight attending functions. I have a different girl on my arm for every event...until now, so when I met you the press took note. They know how much time we've spent together and as much as I've tried to shelter you from that aspect of my life things get out... I thought I had it under control until Robert tried to kill you. Now your picture as my girlfriend—the one who a business rival attempted to murder—has been splashed all across the papers and the news. Whether you wanted it or not, Carrie, you're famous..."