BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE: The Unforgettable Southern Billionaires: The Complete Collection Boxed Set (Young Adult Rich Alpha Male Billionaire Romance)

by Walker, Violet

  “Thanks,” she said breathlessly, but she recovered quickly. “We also need bedding, two for each room. You may not entertain yet, but you probably will.”

  Hunter let her pick up all the bedding and run with the color schemes of each room. He was just happy to be with her, to watch her in action. “I like this,” he told her when they stopped in front of a royal blue chair with an ottoman. “I could use this for late night work, in my room.”

  She nodded thoughtfully. “So you want to go with blues for your room?”

  “I never realized so much thought went into decorating a house. My last house I just bought what I wanted when I needed it without thought to color schemes or anything else.”

  “So why did you hire a decorator this time?”

  “You know why.” Before she could answer, his stomach growled. “That’s our cue. Let’s check out and feed my belly.”

  ~

  “Oh, I’m so stuffed I couldn’t possibly eat another bite.” Rory patted her stomach and leaned back in the booth of the greasy spoon diner Hunter had insisted on. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this place.”

  He popped a sweet potato fry in his mouth. “Oh come on, this is delicious! Where else can you get a triple thick shake made with real chocolate and organic milk?”

  “I wouldn’t know, Hunter. I’m a woman and we actually need to watch what we eat.” Rory shook her head. Sometime between picking out bedding and landing in the vinyl booths, she’d relaxed and begun to laugh with Hunter.

  His gaze was heated as it raked over her, making her body overheat. “I think you look fucking amazing, Rory.”

  She tried to hide the flush in her face and chest. “Sure, Hunter.” She knew his words were just friendly flirtation and she refused to let them affect her. “We should get out of here if we want to get the kitchen settled today.”

  He nodded and threw a few large bills on the table before he turned to Myrna, their waitress. “Myrna, sweetheart, if you ever get tired of being on your feet all day, I’ll make you my bride.”

  The middle-aged waitress blushed her appreciation of his kind words and came over to pinch his cheeks. “I’d take you up on that if we weren’t both spoken for,” she slid a pointed gaze at Rory.

  “Oh no, he’s not mine.”

  He whispered something in Myrna’s ear and she laughed. “Get her, young man.” She laughed and waved them off.

  “What was that about?” Her curiosity got the better of her.

  “That’s between me and Myrna.” Hunter stuck out his tongue at her and pulled her into his arms. She didn’t pull away and couldn’t explain why.

  “Thanks for lunch, Hunter.” Why were things so easy yet so complicated with him? She was at ease around him even when she hummed with desire, but her mind always strayed to the hurt he’d inflicted on her young heart, the irreparable crack that had been in her heart since that day.

  “I’ll feed you anytime, Aurora.”

  She shivered at the sound of her full name on his lips. Damn him for being so irresistible. But resist him she would, and she turned to him to tell him as much.

  Before she could, Hunter’s mouth was on hers, his tongue swiped across her lips to taste her. One hand cupped her face and the other grabbed her waist and pulled her into his hard muscles and she gasped into his mouth. Hunter felt as good, no better than she remembered. His intensity was as strong as ever, but his technique had improved. He knew how to build up a kiss, make it as hot as possible until she was tempted to beg for more. For all of him. Rory didn’t beg, she wouldn’t, but she lost herself in the kiss, teasing and tasting his tongue before pulling it into her mouth and sucking on it. His hands tightened at her hips before curling around to palm her ass. “Hunter,” she moaned into him, hips moving against his.

  “Fuck, Rory!” He panted and tried to catch his breath. “You-” he started but couldn’t continue.

  It took Rory a second to realize the kiss had stopped and when she did, she was horrified. “I’m sorry, Hunter, that shouldn’t have happened.”

  He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “You’ll never forgive me, will you?”

  “It’s not about forgiveness, Hunter, it’s about trust.”

  “Right,” he said tersely and grabbed her hand, threading their fingers together.

  “What are you…where are we going?”

  “You’ll see,” his strides were purposeful as he pulled her along, around the diner and through a small park until they came to a small pond. “Sit.” He pointed to the bench, his silver eyes a dark story grey.

  “Don’t bark orders at me like I’m some kind of-”

  “Sit your ass down, Rory. You’re going to listen and it’s happening now.”

  She plopped down defiantly and he lowered himself beside her, straddling the bench to face her. “You don’t owe me an explanation for anything and don’t think that kiss changes anything.”

  “My dad isn’t my dad.”

  That stopped her flow of words and confusion spread over her. “What? Of course he is.”

  Hunter shook his head. “He isn’t. Remember? I never could figure out why he hated me so much? He was never satisfied, I couldn’t do anything right.” He ran his fingers through his hair again, proof that this was a difficult topic for him. She nodded and he went on. “Well the reason was fairly simple and I couldn’t believe it took me so long to figure it out.” He laughed bitterly and turned those sad grey eyes on her. “That night, Rory, you have to know it was the best damn night of my life. You made me feel so loved and wanted. It felt like someone cared about me and you were that someone. I floated all the way home where my little bubble of happiness popped.”

  Rory put a hand on his forearm and quickly removed it. “Hunter, you don’t have to tell me. It’s fine.”

  “It’s not fine,” he growled. “I want you to know. Hell, I need you to know.” He grabbed her hand and rubbed his cheek against it. “I came home and Dad was going through my stuff, pissed off because there were computer parts all over my room. He started to stomp on them, saying how I should act like a boy and not a pussy. I pushed him to make him stop and he punched me,” he pointed to his left eye, “right here.”

  She gasped. “Oh, Hunter.”

  He smiled at the concern he still heard in her voice. “If you remember, I’d grown quite a few inches that year and I punched him back. He fell to the ground and told me to get out. I packed my bags while Mom cried and begged him not to throw me out. I heard him tell her, “I should’ve made you get rid of that bastard when I figured out he wasn’t mine.” She bawled and he told her this was all her fault for not keeping her legs closed.” He turned to look out into the distance. “After that I knew I couldn’t stay because he would always hate me. So, I grabbed the cash I had stashed in my room and I left. I stayed the night in the high school parking lot so I could close out my bank account, which I did, and I left town.”

  Rory couldn’t fight the impulse to reach out to Hunter, to offer him some kindness. It was more than any kid should have to deal with, no matter how smart he was. “I’m sorry, Hunter,” she whispered to him and swiped away a stream of tears.

  Hunter wiped her jaw with the pad of his thumb. “No, Rory, I’m sorry. So damned sorry. I loved you more than anything and I stopped by your house, but I was so hurt and ashamed and I didn’t want you to see me like that. I thought I was doing the right thing by just leaving, but God, I cried for weeks after I left Loving. I missed you so damn much, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. I knew you’d leave with me and I couldn’t let you waste your life for me.”

  She cried hard at his words because he was right. “I would’ve come with you, Hunter, all you had to do was tell me what was happening.”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t want you to leave school and your family because of me. You’d already lost so much.” He gave her a sad smile. “I never meant not to contact you again, Rory, I swear. But every time I thought about you, I hurt s
o bad, I couldn’t stand the idea of learning you’d fallen in love with someone else. I just couldn’t.”

  She nodded, looking deep into his eyes, past the hurt and betrayal. “I understand.”

  “You do?”

  She nodded with a sad smile. “I do. You were young and struggling to survive. You had to think of yourself first." Rory sighed, wishing she didn’t know any of this, but also glad she did. “Thank you for sharing with me, Hunter, I appreciate it. And I do forgive you, I really do.”

  “But…?”

  She gave him smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “But it doesn’t change anything other than I don’t hate you now. You have to understand that you leaving, it…you know, never mind.” She stood and wiped her eyes. “We should go if you want to do the kitchen today, or I can just go tomorrow on my own.” She looked down at him expectantly.

  “That’s it?”

  “For now, Hunter, it has to be.”

  Chapter Four

  Hunter paced the length of his dungeon for twenty minutes while he waited for Rory to show up. He’d let her do the kitchen shopping on her own, yet still she had sent photos of every purchase for his approval. It must’ve taken her forever, but she’d gotten everything and it had all been delivered yesterday. The men downstairs had installed the new stainless steel fridge, six-top range stove and oven. He was impressed with the kitchen even though he hardly ever cooked. Ramona did most of the cooking and, if she found it useful, he’d hire someone else to clean so she could focus on cleaning.

  Cecilia appeared in the doorway. “Rory is here and she asked that you come down to the ‘receiving room,’ whatever that is.”

  Since Rory told him of Cecilia’s feelings, he’d begun to notice a hint of venom in her voice whenever she said Rory’s name. “It’s the first room on the right when you enter the house,” he told her. “Tell her I’ll be down in a minute.”

  She nodded and silently walked away.

  He’d changed out of his Pac-Man t-shirt and into a striped wool sweater before he went down to greet Rory. Truthfully, he didn’t know what to say after their revealing conversation a few days ago. She hadn’t left him with any real hope for a future together, but he’d thought of nothing but her ominous statement. What had his leaving done, other than break her heart? He was eager to know how his middle-of-the-night departure had impacted her. He spotted Ramona at the bottom of the stairs. “Hey Ramona, I heard there was a pretty blond looking for me.”

  Ramona shook her head and smacked his arm with a hand towel. “Yeah, she must be crazy,” she said and winked as she headed upstairs.

  When he entered the receiving room, he spotted Rory staring thoughtfully out the window. She wore a dark blue cashmere sweater dress that hugged her tight little body, grey tights and knee boots that made a man’s imagination veer towards the carnal. “I heard someone was in search of a tall, handsome tech genius with gorgeous eyes.”

  She turned with a smile. “That’s funny because I requested James Bond, not Q.” She laughed at his affronted look.

  Hunter felt good that she’d given him a smile that he hadn’t had to pull from her, and her eyes seemed brighter when she looked at him. “How are you, Rory?”

  Her smile dimmed a bit. “I’m good, Hunter, how about you?”

  “Better now.”

  She shook her head. “You’re incorrigible, you know that right?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve been told a time or two.”

  Her green eyes went big and round, her o-shaped mouth covered by one hand, while the other pressed to her chest. “Oh my! You don’t say!” Her feigned shock and awful accent made them both laugh.

  That’s exactly how Cecilia found them both when she entered. “Hey Boss, do you have a minute?”

  He nodded and plopped down on the recently-delivered sofa. It had dark green upholstery with a dark gold trim. It was fancy yet functional and comfortable. “What’s up?”

  She cast a wary glance toward Rory.

  “It’s alright, Rory can hear whatever you have to say.”

  She cast another glance over at Rory but pivoted towards Hunter. “We’ve run into a problem with the hardware.” Her glance at Rory was cautious, but she continued to speak. “The supplier for the switch component has been purchased by another company.”

  Hunter sat at the edge of his seat and ran an annoyed hand through his hair. “For fuck’s sake, Cecilia, spit it out!”

  “Harwood Industries has purchased PVT and we haven’t been able to get anyone on the telephone, so we’re at a standstill.”

  Hunter looked over to Rory and she was already whispering into the phone. He turned back to Cecilia, “I think we’ll solve this rather quickly.”

  “But sir, I really don’t think you should hold your breath for a decorator,” she said snidely.

  “Do we need to have a talk about how you treat guests in my home, Cecilia?”

  “No, but I think you’re-”

  “You have five minutes Hunter, Dean has a conference call in ten.” She slid her phone over to Hunter, who raised an eyebrow at the pink crystal-encrusted phone cover.

  He mouthed the words “thank you” to Rory and turned his attention to the phone call. A few minutes later, he disconnected the call. “Thanks Rory, you are my little lifesaver.”

  Cecilia scoffed and tried to cover it with a cough.

  Rory glared at the brunette and turned a beaming smile on Hunter. “Well I am a full-service decorator.”

  “How did you manage that? Did you used to date one of the Harwoods?” Cecilia asked, eyes wide with disbelief.

  “Cecilia!” Hunter roared, anger reddening his face.

  “Actually the company belongs to me, my twin brother Dean and my cousin River, so no, I don’t have to fuck a man to get him to do me a favor.” She glared at Cecilia and put her back to the woman. “Hunter, we really should finish up the work in the guest bedrooms.”

  He dismissed Cecilia and turned pleading silver eyes on Rory. “I’m sorry about Cecilia’s behavior. I’m afraid you were right.”

  She waved away his apology. “Don’t worry about it, Hunter. There was a time I would’ve done the same thing.”

  He laughed. “Oh I remember poor Debbie Shayley--probably still gets a nauseous feeling when she sees a public toilet.”

  She laughed at the memory. “Well that’ll teach her about trying to steal a girl’s boyfriend then, won’t it?” She straightened her dress and moved toward the door. “Let’s head upstairs so we can talk about the bedrooms.”

  He smiled at her backside, “After you.”

  Rory glanced at him over her shoulder, a coy smile on her face and turned back around.

  Hunter groaned, pretty sure she’d put some extra jiggle in her walk to torture him.

  Rory’s husky laugh echoed in the hallway on the second floor.

  ~

  “So I was thinking that the guestrooms should have the queen beds on one side and the king beds on the other,” she told Hunter, who she knew hadn’t been paying attention to anything but her backside since they’d climbed the stairs. “What do you think?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Rory felt lighter over the past few days, and today she’d felt a sense of feminine pride at the way Hunter couldn’t keep his eyes off her body. She reached for her pen and pad under the pretense of jotting down a note. “Oops,” she said in her huskiest voice when she bent over to pick up the pen. She bit her lip to stop the laughter that built up when Hunter released a strangled groan. She stood, flushed and tossed the pen in the middle of the bed. “I’m just so clumsy today,” she said innocently.

  Hunter was still silent and his eyes were still glued to her body.

  “Hunter,” she called his name and the only response she received was a sexy swipe of his tongue over those kissable lips of his. Rory walked closer and she knew she was playing with fire, but she didn’t care. She hadn’t felt so desired, so beautiful and sexy since her first time with Hunter. “Hunter
, nod if you can hear me.” She stepped closer.

  He licked his lips again.

  “Hunter,” she said his name and brought her hands to rest on the muscles beneath his sweater. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

  He didn’t respond until her lips touched his and then he was on her, everywhere. His hands flew to her waist, kneading and grasping tightly as though afraid to let her go. He tilted her head and deepened the kiss, he took control of the kiss and she let him because she knew he cared about her pleasure as much as his own. His tongue darted in and out of her mouth, tasting every deep, dark place to remind his tongue that this mouth belonged to him.

  He groaned when her tongue tangled with his and Rory reclaimed control of the kiss, licking his top lip then his bottom lip before returning to the top lip. She licked at his tongue before she sucked it and swirled her tongue around it like she used to do in other places. It was her turn to moan, first in protest when his mouth left hers and then in pleasure when he dotted sexy wet kisses along her neck. “Hunter,” she moaned.

  “Into the bedroom?”

  “Yes,” she whispered softly in his ear, swiping at it with her tongue.

  Hunter lifted her and Rory’s legs obediently wrapped around him and she let her hips grind against him, sending a clear message about her needs. “Rory.” He groaned from the feel of her damp heat searing through his pants and his underwear.

  Rory slid down his body and took a few steps back, eyeing him up and down.

  That seemed to clear Hunter’s mind. “You’re not ready Rory, I understand-” he began, but instead of retreating Rory fisted the hem of his sweater and yanked it over his head.

  “Damn, I knew you’d grow up to be sexy as hell.” Then her mouth on his body, caressing his pecs and licking at his nipples, her hands ghosted along his abs before her tongue swirled around each hard ridge. Her path changed directions and she kissed his neck and chin while her hands worked fast to unfasten his pants and push them to the floor. “Yep, sexy,” she confirmed at the site of his erection, twitching under her lustful gaze.

  “Rory,” he warned, but her hand snaked out to touch him and she used her thumb to swipe at a bead of moisture on his tip.