The Billionaire's Desire: The Complete Series

by Cassie Cross

  Abigail slowly sank down on him, arching her back, accentuating the perfect tits and curves that Cole thought about whenever he closed his eyes. He caressed her nipples with the pads of his thumbs, then gripped her hips and helped her move as her muscles squeezed his cock. Cole couldn’t take his eyes off of her body as she took him in, and he loved the way her wetness made his skin glisten. Abigail twined her fingers with his as she rode him, and Cole pressed his hips up against her, offering himself up for her pleasure. To help her along and because he loved being inside her when she came, he circled her clit with his thumb, taking her higher and higher until she collapsed on top of him and pressed her lips against his, her muscles tensing and relaxing, driving him crazy.

  “Oh, fuck,” she sighed, trying to catch her breath. She sat back on her heels and rocked her hips, then closed her eyes as she cupped her breasts, enjoying the fading waves of pleasure. Cole loved hearing filthy words fall from her lips, and wanted to hear them again. He pulled her down on top of him until their chests touched.

  “Hook your arms under mine and hold on,” he said. As always, Abigail did as she was told. She buried her face in his neck, kissing and sucking the skin there. He wrapped his arms around her waist and thrusted up, pounding into her, making their skin slap together. Abigail could barely catch her breath, each thrust drawing a short moan from her lips. She came quickly a second time, and her orgasm snuck up on Cole. He couldn’t hold on any longer.

  Cole withdrew quickly and stroked his cock as ropes of come decorated her belly. Abigail sat up and slid her finger into the slick seed, then licked her fingertip. He nearly came again on the spot.

  This woman, she was going to be the death of him.

  Cole sat up and drew Abigail into his chest, holding her close as he kissed her. He heard his Blackberry ringing, but he couldn’t bring himself to get up.

  Business could wait just a while longer.

  CHAPTER SIX

  AT THREE in the morning, Abby woke up for no apparent reason. She rubbed her eyes and rolled onto her back, then stared up at the ceiling, grinning. She had a wonderful ache between her legs; the one that came from having tons of sex. She’d had more in the past week than she had in the past year, which was a sadness she didn’t really like thinking about. But Cole more than made up for her year-long drought.

  Abby thought back over the time that she and Cole had spent in Chicago. She’d come here hoping for sex and lots of it, but she never would’ve dared to hope for the level of—dare she think it—intimacy they were slowly building. While the feelings that she had expressed regarding her hatred for Cole looking at her with pity last night were truthful, she did appreciate the fact that he even felt pity for her at all. Not long ago, she would’ve thought his capability to feel true compassion for another person was completely impossible. Now, she realized, he was much, much deeper than she ever could have believed.

  After finding out about Cole’s community centers, she wondered what other kind of charitable endeavors he participated in but would be reluctant to admit to. There was a whole wealth of knowledge about him just waiting to be discovered, and she couldn’t wait to devour every bit of it. In the hopeful hours of the early morning, Abby began to let herself dream about a future with Cole outside of the office, and didn’t let her ever-present doubt creep in this time.

  Abby rolled over onto her side and hugged her pillow. It was then that she saw the steady stream of flickering shadows from the television through the crack beneath her door. She grinned at the thought of Cole having fallen asleep in front of the television, and she couldn’t stop herself from getting out of bed to check on him. She tried to tell herself that this was her duty, all part of being his assistant, but deep down she knew that wasn’t true. Something about Cole had always drawn her to him. She used to think that it was his confidence and business acumen, but now she knew that it was something more.

  She felt as if she was attached to a string, and whenever Cole pulled it, she moved. And she wanted to.

  Abby slowly opened her door, then peered outside. She could see Cole’s arm dangling off the sofa, and even though she couldn’t see his face, she knew he was sleeping. She smiled as she grabbed a folded blanket from the foot of her bed, then walked out into the living room.

  Cole’s face was smushed against the sofa pillow, his body contorted in an odd way, twisted at the waist. She carefully moved his legs, bringing them to rest in line with the rest of his body. He burrowed into the cushions, then gripped a pillow, hugging it to his chest. Abby unfolded the blanket and spread it over him, tucking in the edges so it wouldn’t fall off of him during the few hours they had left before daylight.

  Cole looked so peaceful like this, such a stark contrast to the way he was when he was awake, all businesslike. Abby sat on the edge of the sofa and took a minute to appreciate the tranquility of his expression. She gently slid her fingertips through his hair and felt that familiar warmth creep up inside of her again, only this time its presence didn’t confuse her. She knew exactly what it was, what it meant, and how much trouble it would cause her.

  She didn’t want to fall in love with him. She didn’t want it at all, but her heart had other plans.

  Then, Cole did something that shocked her senseless.

  “Abby,” he sighed. His eyes were closed and Abby was certain he was still sleeping. His voice sounded like a dream. “I love you.”

  The story continues with

  The Billionaire’s Desire #4: The Billionaire’s Betrayal

  CHAPTER ONE

  THURSDAY EVENING, Cole was sitting at the desk in the living room of the hotel suite, reading through a never-ending stream of emails. His eyes felt sandy and tired from constantly staring at a computer screen. He missed his office in New York and the familiarity of his routine, preferring to work at his own desk instead of in a hotel room. But the discomfort was worth spending time with Abigail.

  Cole rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, then sat back and rolled his neck, trying to work out the kinks. He’d fallen asleep on the couch last night, which was completely unlike him. He woke up in the early morning light, warmed by a blanket that Abigail had covered him with at some point during the night. He grinned at the thought of her getting up in the middle of the night and looking for him, then caring enough to make sure he was warm. She’d always taken care of him at work, which was part of her job. That she was taking her own time to do it outside of working hours opened up a floodgate of emotions inside of him that he wasn’t quite sure how to name. Was it fondness? No, that wasn’t strong enough. Love? Perhaps.

  Cole could hear the shower running in Abigail’s room. Tonight was the night she was going out with that asshole Josh Hamilton. Even though it was something that Cole both wanted and needed her to do, a surge of jealousy coursed through his veins and he realized that his hands were balled into fists. What was he doing letting her go out with Hamilton? Only a week ago, when he first came up with the idea to bring her here, Cole still thought of Abigail as an employee, as a means to an end. Now, he thought of her as so much more.

  Cole sat there, clenching and unclenching his fists. If he was smart, he would tell Abigail what Josh was up to. But she was such an intelligent woman, she’d put the pieces together immediately. Cole would have to admit that he spied on her and that he asked her here hoping she would find out what Josh was up to. It would unravel the carefully knit cloth of trust and intimacy they’d gained over the past few days, and he didn’t want to risk that.

  If Cole were able to be honest with himself, he’d realize that gaining that intimacy was the precise reason he’d invited Abigail on this trip in the first place. His ‘plan’ to corner Hamilton was flimsy at best, not at all up to Cole’s usually high standards. He’d found out about Abigail’s limited involvement with Josh and used that as an excuse to bring her here, to spend time with her outside of the office. There were other, more fool-proof ways of finding him out. But Cole was already knee-deep in this
mess and he had to see it through to the end.

  Conveniently, he decided not to think about what would happen if Abigail didn’t get any information out of Josh, if she did get the information and decided not to tell him, or worse—if Josh and Abigail’s outing this evening really was a date.

  Cole wanted to crawl out of his skin thinking of Abigail going out with that slime. His two biggest instincts were at war: the instinct to protect his business, and the instinct to protect the woman he was…falling in love with? Was that really what it was? Cole wasn’t familiar with love, only lust. Love had no place in Cole’s life because he hadn’t been willing to make time for it. Before Abigail, that is. He wanted to make time for it with her. But she was his employee, how would he handle that? As exciting as it was, he couldn’t keep carrying on a secret relationship with her at the office. Having her around was distracting enough now, surely he’d wind up losing his handle on his company if he tried to deal with a girlfriend at work. No, he couldn’t keep her, he’d have to help her find employment elsewhere. And then he would lose the best assistant he’d ever had.

  Love really has a way of fucking everything up, Cole thought. Love. He smiled just thinking of that word when he assigned it to Abigail. If he didn’t love her already, he was well on his way, but he was going to have to be sure of it before he told her. He’d rather lose KC-23 to another company than hurt her.

  Again, if Cole was honest with himself, he would’ve known at that moment to tell Abigail the truth.

  But he didn’t.

  Just then a message popped up on his computer screen, pulling him out of his thoughts.

  Did you find out what that dick head is up to yet?

  It was Keith, who Cole imagined was probably sitting at his computer, gnawing on his fingernails and waiting for an answer.

  Not yet, but probably tonight.

  Cole wasn’t going to tell Keith how he planned to get that information.

  I hope you have something good up your sleeve.

  Cole grinned as he typed back:

  Don’t I always?

  But he didn’t, not this time. All he had on his side was hope, dumb luck, and a woman who changed the orbit of his universe.

  “Hi,” Abigail said, standing in the doorway to her room. She was dressed as she would’ve been for work, in long black slacks, a pink blouse and a black blazer. She looked so lovely, but not at all like she was meeting someone she was remotely interested in. This realization made Cole relax somewhat. Her hair framed her face in subtle waves, and those beautiful eyes of hers sparkled when she looked at him. He could see the slightest bit of apprehension in them, and he thought about what a bastard he was for not telling her to ditch Hamilton and stay here with him instead. That’s what he should have told her.

  Soon, that’s what he’ll wish he had told her.

  But tonight, Cole was going to let her go through with it and hope things turned out in his favor.

  “Is everything okay?” Abigail asked.

  Cole nodded, trying to muster a smile. He managed one, but he was sure that it was weak. “Everything’s fine. Keith was just checking up on things, wanted to know how the trip is going.”

  “How is the trip going?”

  Cole stood and walked over to her, then placed his hand on her hip. He wanted her to stay here in this room with him tonight. He wanted to kiss the curve of her neck and the tender skin between her breasts where he could feel her heart pounding beneath her lips. He wanted to make her his.

  “It’s going better than I could’ve possibly expected,” he said, pushing a stray curl behind her ear. Her eyes fluttered shut as he caressed her cheek.

  “I should probably go,” she whispered, not sounding like she wanted to go at all.

  It gave Cole some satisfaction that she seemed reluctant to leave him. He was reluctant to let her go.

  He should have told her to stay, but he didn’t.

  “Enjoy yourself,” he said, but the sentiment was empty. He was a bastard, letting her go and hoping she had a miserable time.

  Abigail gave Cole a half-hearted smile as she turned to go and meet another man.

  Cole felt the burning hot rip of possessiveness cut through his skin and he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. He wanted her to remember his lips, his kiss, his taste. He wanted her to see his face when she looked at Hamilton. He wanted her to know that she belonged to him, even though he couldn’t claim her. He wanted her to return to him. Soon. He pressed his lips against hers and she knit her fingers through his hair as their mouths collided. Cole memorized the soft noises Abigail made as she kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, his hand finding purchase on her lower back. He wanted every part of her against his body, wanted the smell of her to remain on his clothes for the rest of the night.

  When they finally parted, Cole touched Abigail’s forehead with his own, searching her eyes as he caught his breath.

  Then, too soon, Abigail sighed, tenderly running her fingers along the slope of Cole’s jaw before she turned and walked out.

  Cole missed her the moment she was gone. He stood there, looking at the door, waiting for her to come back and hating himself for being selfish enough to let her leave in the first place. He fought the urge to follow her so he could make sure Hamilton didn’t lay a finger on her. No, he couldn’t do that; it was the first step down a very slippery slope. Instead of doing one more thing that could push Abigail away from him, he decided to do something that would bring her closer.

  He went back to the desk and picked up his Blackberry, pulling up Keith’s secretary’s number on the screen.

  It rang only once before she picked up.

  “Hello, Mr. Kerrigan,” she said cheerily. “How may I help you?”

  “Listen…Abigail is out for the evening, and I need your help.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  ABBY CRADLED her cell phone as she walked down the street to the bar where she was meeting Josh Hamilton. She hated herself for leaving Cole, but she wanted to do this. She had hoped that Cole would stop her, but he hadn’t. That hurt, but she didn’t want to let on. There was a small part of her that wanted him to be jealous knowing that she was having drinks with another man. It was immature, sure, but she couldn’t seem to help herself from wanting it anyway.

  “So, how hot is this guy?” Becca asked. She sounded excited as always, living vicariously through her friend.

  “I don’t know, maybe a eight? I’ve only seen him in company pictures.”

  “Christ, Abby. What is it with you? Do you have magical pheromones or something? First your boss and now this dude?”

  “I don’t even know for sure that this guy is even interested in me like that. This seems like it’s going to be work related,” Abby said as she waited at a crosswalk.

  “Oh my god, corporate espionage!” Becca sounded like a kid on Christmas.

  “Don’t be crazy,” Abby replied, laughing. “I would never spy on my boss.” She’d nearly said Cole’s name and was relieved she caught herself.

  “I was just teasing you. So…what if he makes a move?”

  I’d turn him down, Abby thought, but she wanted to spare herself a lecture so she didn’t say that to Becca. “I don’t know,” she replied instead. She’d been thinking about the possibility that Josh was after more than work-related conversation. She didn’t think it was likely, but she wanted to be prepared.

  “Why don’t you know? What’s a little innocent flirting-slash-sex between coworkers?”

  Abby was silent. What was a little innocent flirting-slash-sex between coworkers? Her heart was telling her that it was a pretty big fucking deal, but only when that coworker was Cole. She had absolutely no interest in Josh, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

  “Holy shit, you’re in love with him.” Becca’s word had an undercurrent of pity, the very thing they shouldn’t have when she was talking about something as glorious as love.

  Abby wanted to tell he
r that he’d said he’d loved her. But he’d said it when he was sleeping and even though Abby desperately wanted it to be true, she couldn’t hold him to words he’d spoken when he wasn’t even conscious.

  “No,” Abby replied, taking a beat too long to deny it.

  Becca sighed. “Yes you are.” Abby hated the tentative lilt in Becca’s voice. “Oh, Abby. Sweetie, you’re going to get hurt.”

  “No I’m not,” Abby replied, trying to sound light. “I’m not in love with him, Beck.” She didn’t want to have this conversation in the middle of the street while Becca was a thousand miles away. It would have to wait, especially because Abby was at her destination. “Look, I’ve got to go. I’m right outside the bar.”

  “I’m sorry I teased you. I just love you and I don’t want…” she paused, probably realizing that this wasn’t the time to say what she wanted to say. “Eh, I hope you have a good time tonight. I can’t wait for you to come home. I miss you more every time I look in my makeup drawer and realize that it’s all still there.”

  Abby laughed, thinking it was pretty rich of Becca to accuse her of being a makeup thief. “I miss you too. I’ll see you day after tomorrow.”

  “‘Kay. Have fun.”

  “Bye.” Abby grinned as she turned off the phone and slid it into her purse.

  JOSH WAS already at the bar waiting for Abby when she walked through the door, and he called her over to him with a friendly wave and a smile. Abby waved back, forgetting how charming he could be. She was surprised that he hadn’t spoken to her more often during the time she’d spent working in the Chicago office, but he seemed to want to keep his distance. At the time she had wondered if that had something to do with Cole or something to do with whatever it was he had wanted to talk about on the phone. She was beginning to think that the two things may be related.