He stopped and looked at me, his eyebrow arched as his brown eyes shone into mine. I stared back into them, wanting to hold the heat of his gaze.
“I’ll put my cock in you when I’m ready, and not before.”
Collin kissed over my belly and up to my breasts with agonizing slowness, taking my hard nipples into his mouth and teasing them with his tongue, the way he teased me with his cock.
At long last he moved between my legs, his tip once again at my entrance.
I wrapped my legs around his body, determined to keep him. A loud moan escaped me as he leaned down and kissed me. Our tongues twirled, mine frantic, his deliberate.
Desperate for release, I lifted my ass to force his cock into me. Collin started to pull away, to loosen the hold my legs had on him. I broke the seal of our lips and kissed across his cheek.
When my lips reached his ear I said, my voice a breathy whisper, “‘I’ve waited so long, please don’t make me wait any longer.”
He groaned in approval and drove his cock into me. A burst of heat blasted through my body. The tension in my body built and built under the steady rhythm of his thrusts, wanting more and more and finally getting it.
“Collin!” I screamed as my body burst in blissful heat. My nails dug into his ass and my teeth bit down on the flesh of his shoulder as the intense waves rippled through me.
Collin grunted and rutted and released himself into me, my walls still spasming around his cock.
He hovered his sweaty body over me for a moment then pressed his lips against my forehead.
* * *
“I’ve missed you, babe,” he said as he rolled off me and lay alongside me.
My eyes widened at the realization we didn’t use a condom. I was on the pill, but still, I didn’t know what he’d been up to, or into all these years. Not knowing what to do, I decided to get to the bathroom and clean myself up. But Collin wouldn’t let me go. He wrapped his strong arm round me and held me against him on the floor of my living room.
“Let me go.”
“Never.”
“You’d better not be diseased or something.”
“Don’t worry. I promise.” He kissed me.
What did he mean ‘never’? This was not going to be an ongoing thing between us, just because he was back in Chicago. An involuntary flinch pushed through my body, causing my shoulders to squirm against him.
“Let’s go to bed, babe. It’s late.”
Spooning in my bed, he caressed my skin with his thumb, soothing me.
Collin
Jenny was every bit as good as I remembered her. All those other little brunettes are shit in comparison.
I should’ve pushed her harder to get her to come to London with me. I could’ve had her in my bed all these years. I should’ve opened a club in Chicago years ago. I should’ve flown her to Sydney. I should’ve done so many things.
I inhaled the coconut scent in her hair and snippets of memories flashed through my mind.
Maybe she would’ve kept me straight. She would’ve given me a goal other than to get more and more money at any cost. Too late, it doesn’t matter now. Sure, I ended up with a pile of money, but with no purpose other than to get even more money.
Now I have enough money that even I can’t see the point of killing myself to get more. I want something more. Something like Jenny.
But I can’t. She’s too fucking good. I’ve changed far too much and can’t drag her into my dirty life. I’d never do that to her. My life is too fucked up.
My arms rises and falls with the rhythm of her breathing. I could do this more often, I realized. I could go there every weekend just to hear her scream my name.
Jenny
The later I stayed up at night, the earlier I woke up in the morning. It’s the way I was wired. Despite not getting to sleep until after three, I woke up at six.
Collin’s arm was still around me, holding me tight against his muscular frame. I wiggled out from under his arm and sat up straight. The duvet shifted back in the process, revealing his body all the way to his hip bones.
I surveyed him, admiring his chiseled appearance. He’d always been sporty and muscular, but damn, the last seven years turned his youthful appearance into pure, rugged manliness.
I reached to the tattoo that covered his shoulder and pec. Unable to resist, I traced my fingers over the endless intertwining of the Celtic pattern. I sighed. It’s been fun having this fine specimen of a man in my bed, but the fun’s over, I want to find a husband.
* * *
Collin didn’t wake up until after nine. I’d decided to let him sleep since I wasn’t going over to Abbie’s until after lunch. I wished I could tell her about this, but she was hurting so much over Jay that I couldn’t bring it up, it’d be like rubbing it in her face
I licked the peanut butter off my toast as I clicked into my online dating profile. It was naughty checking it when there was a naked man in my bed, but he’d leave soon. What happened had been sex, nothing more.
My profile had been up for weeks but I still hadn’t found anyone that caught my interest. Now was a good a time as any to check for any new messages, actually it was a better time, to reinforce in my mind that Collin is over.
There’s no better way to solidify that than with finding someone else, someone I could settle down and be middle-aged with.
My profile had a bit of activity but not much. Only one message waited for me. When I clicked on his profile, I immediately clicked out again. In his profile picture he had a python around his neck. No thank you. The snake would eat my babies.
I figured there must be something wrong with my profile. I hadn’t spent as much time crafting it as I probably should have. Reading it back, I realized I sounded on the verge of becoming a cat lady, unless someone knocked me up right this second.
“Morning, sunshine.”
“Hey,” I said shutting my laptop lid.
Naked, Collin walked over to me at the dining table and kissed the top of my head.
My eyes bulged out of my head as I watched him move with no shame or attempt to cover himself. I guess when you look that good you don’t have the hang-ups most people have.
I got up to pour him a cup of coffee, and brought it to him on the sofa. I sat on the sofa, against the arm giving him a wide berth. He was pulling on his suit pants, his dress shirt hung open and flashed his abs with each movement.
“When did you get the tattoo?”
“In Sydney.”
“Sydney. The place you were living when I got the last email from you.”
Collin shifted his eyes from his hands, busy doing up his buttons, to me. Did I imagine the flash of guilt in them? He picked up the coffee and downed half the mug in one go.
“I should be going.” He stood and gathered his shoes and socks and sat back down to put them on.
“That’s it? You show up in the middle of the night, fuck me and now you’re leaving without even finishing a cup of coffee?”
“What do you want me to do?”
“How about an ‘anything new’? What have you been up to since I last emailed you six and a half years ago? You could at least ask about my mom, you always loved her.”
A broad smile came over his face. “She’s great. Makes the best lasagna ever. How is she?”
“Dying.” The smile vanished as fast as it’d appeared and his eyes widened.
Collin sat down close beside me and put his arm around me. We sat in silence for a moment, digesting our thoughts.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Not unless you know a miracle cure for stomach cancer.”
“Shit.”
I nodded. “At least they’ve been able to buy her some time. They figure she has two more years. Which is better than what we were told when they first diagnosed her.”
“How good are her doctors?”
“Best in Bangor.”
Collin squeezed my shoulder and drew me into him. My head rolled onto his s
houlder, rising and falling with his breathing.
“That’s not good enough. You find the best doctor in the country for her type of cancer and I’ll pay for the treatment.”
I bolted upright and looked at him. His usual steely eyes had softened. It was amazing he was so affected by the news. My mom and he had always gotten along so well. Sometimes I used to think he liked her more than he liked me.
But that was all long in the past. Our relationship was done. We were done. I wanted nothing more to do with him so I could move on with my life. But how could I turn down the offer of the best medical treatment for my mother? There’s no way in hell I could pass that up.
“Are you serious? Thank you. That would mean so much to her. And me.” I flung my arms around his neck and held him tight. Collin placed his hand in the middle of my back and held me close to him.
“Daniel will set everything up, just give him the details and he’ll sort out the payments.” I looked up at him. My eyes roamed back and forth over his face.
“How do I contact him?”
“I’ll text you his number.” My brow creased.
“Do you even know my number?”
“I’ll give you mine.”
He wrote his number on a scrap of paper before he left.
Collin
My phone rang and I hauled it out of my suit pocket. Shit. Raylene.
“What the fuck are you calling me for?” My voice seethed with hatred.
“Hey baby, I’m just calling to see how you’re doing.”
“How much do you want?”
“Just calling to say how much I love you and how much little Harlan and I miss you.”
“Fuck you.” My knuckles turned white from gripping the phone so tight.
“What’s the matter? Can’t handle a little sweet talk from your loving wife?”
“Bullshit, what the fuck do you want?”
“A little love.”
“Last chance. What is it? How much is it this time?”
“It’s not money, baby. It’s little Harlan, he misses his daddy.”
“So bring him to live with me in Chicago and you can get the fuck out of my life once and for all.”
“Now, baby, that’s no way to talk to a loving wife.”
“What loving wife?” Unbelievable. I couldn’t stand the sound of her voice. I’ve never been able to stand the sound of her voice. Not for one second. If it wasn’t for her damn amber eyes.
“The one who’s got your son.”
“Yeah, for a price. What kind of mother sells their own fucking child?”
“One who wants the best for him.”
“If you wanted the best for your child, it’d be anywhere but with a non-stop partier like you.”
“Now, now.”
“I’m sick of your voice. Are you going to own up to why you’re calling or not? Three… two…”
“Fine. I need money.”
“Well, that was fucking obvious. Why do you need more than the fifty grand I give you every month and what is it for this time?”
“I want to move closer to the beach.” Unbelievable.
“You live on the fucking beach.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t face the sunset. When do I ever get up to see the sunrise? I want a sunset view.”
“Don’t be so stupid. You know as well as I do that you don’t go to sleep until after the sun comes up. You see that damn ball rise every day.”
“But, baby.”
“Stop talking. Stop phoning me. You want contact, you go through Daniel. Preferably through your lawyer. I never want to hear your hideous voice again.” I pulled the phone away from my ear and was about to hit end call when she screeched into the phone.
“What?” I said, putting it back to my ear.
“Don’t you want to know about how little Harlan is doing?”
“I know how he’s doing. Better than you do, according to what the nanny tells me. She says you sleep all day and party all night and maybe, once in a blue moon, say hello to the poor guy. And a cuddle is unheard of. When’s the last time you held him?”
“Fuck her, I’m the mother.”
“You’re no more Harlan’s mother than you are my loving wife.”
“But baby, I do love you, for all the money you’re going to give me.”
“Fuck you.” Her scream pierced through the phone as I hit the end call button. It took all my willpower not to hurl my phone at the floor.
Jenny
I had a visitor in the night!
As much as I needed to talk to Abbie about it, I couldn’t tell her this with the state she was in. I’d texted Marla. My phone rang immediately.
“Hey.”
“Who!”
“I’m fine, how are you?”
“Spill.”
“Collin turned up at my door in the middle of the night.”
“No way. What time?”
“Two. He pounded on the door and pissed off the neighbors.”
“So you let him in?”
“I can’t have everyone in the building hate me. He was mouthing off to that big guy who lives across the hall.”
“Get out. But let me guess, you let him in and he tumbled into your bed?”
“Not quite.” I paused, a little embarrassed. “We were on the sofa first.”
“Yuck. Remind me to sit on your armchair next time I’m over.”
“Thanks, sweetie.”
“Uh-huh. Tell me this was a one-off.”
“Of course. There’s just one problem.”
“What?” I’m sure she rolled her eyes, I could practically hear them groaning around in their sockets.
“He’s going to pay for my mom to go to the best doctor in the country.”
“Shut up. That’s amazing.”
“I know, right? It’s just now it means I’m going to keep having contact with him about the payments and how the treatment is going.”
“And you have to answer your door if he comes knocking again.” Outrage rushed through me.
“I’m not some whore. He’s not doing this in exchange for sex.”
“Sure. ‘Cause no man ever did that.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!” I yelled into the phone at her.
“Tell me that after next weekend. I bet he comes looking for more.”
“I won’t let him in if he does.”
“Of course you will. You still want him.”
“Nope. No way. Not after the way he left last time. Besides, now I need to focus on finding someone to settle down with.” I was trying to convince myself as much as her.
“And a filthy rich ex who’s getting your mom the best medical treatment isn’t the kind you’d marry.”
“Exactly.”
“But you’ll get wrapped up with the doctor payments. You’re almost as gullible as Abbie if you can’t see that.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the Abbie jibe. Marla could be critical of Abbie and this time she was smug because she was right after the way Jay turned out to be James.
“I don’t know. Collin’s always loved my mom.”
“That was a long time ago.”
“Yeah, but people don’t change that much.”
“As if.” Cynical Marla. She was almost the exact opposite of Abbie. She couldn’t see that being so disbelieving was just as bad as being so willing to believe.
“Not their cores. Not who they are.”
“We’ll see. Just remember to keep your weekends free for when he shows up next time. Make sure you don’t have another guy stay over.”
“Ha, that would be too funny. Maybe I could convince them to have a threesome.”
“Says the woman who wants to settle down. That’s good potential mothering right there. ‘Sorry little Johnny, I don’t know who your father is but I think it must be Collin since the other guy fucked my ass during our double penetration.’”
We both burst out laughing.
; As soon as I hung up, I opened my laptop and Googled stomach cancer. The best place for her was in Houston. Which is really far from Maine.
Especially if she was so run down from chemo. She was not going to want to get on a plane. I didn’t even know if she could get on a plane if it knocks out her immune system. Would she have to wear a mask and gloves? I had no idea. All I knew was that Houston was her best chance, and I needed to get her there.
* * *
I’d taken Monday off work to sort out all the arrangements for my mother. I’d missed a lot of work lately, but personal emergencies had to take priority.
Collin’s brother Daniel had been amazing at helping me set things up for mom. We’d never jelled that well in the past, but he went above and beyond with my mother’s care.
Collin’s private jet was to pick her up and ferry her and my dad between Maine and Texas. Complete with her own personal nurse who would accompany her and act as an advocate on her behalf, making sure she had the best care possible and was comfortable at home.
The nurse would even take care of all the meals for my mother and father. A huge win, because they struggle to prepare healthy meals from scratch, now that my mom was so tired all the time, and my father only knew how to work the microwave.
Listen to it, ‘his private jet’. I knew he was doing well, even in college it was obvious his drive would make his success inevitable. But private jets are a whole new level in the doing-well scale.
Part of me thought I shouldn’t be so willing to take so much from Collin. It was hardly fair to take what would probably be more money than I’ll make in my lifetime from an old boyfriend. One I don’t want to rekindle a relationship with by any stretch.
But all that guilt was drowned out by the constant screaming voice in my head telling me to save my mom, no matter how or what I have to do to get her the best treatment.
I spent the rest of the week working like a dog to catch up and keep up with new stuff piling up on my desk. Most of it was coming up with a brand strategy for a new product we were launching in a couple of months so at least there wasn’t any massive time pressure just yet.
Billionaire's Secret: The Complete Series Page 36