“It was so good to see you, Tisha.” Mina kissed his mother’s cheeks.
“Don’t forget what I told you,” Tisha said with a wink.
The guests surrounding her chattered goodbye to Mina as she followed Spencer through the lobby to the waiting car. Inside the limo, they were silent all the way to the airport.
Mina stared out the window, her chin in her hand as if she were contemplating something. Spencer wanted to know what it was. And that made him angry.
They arrived at the airport, and the driver opened the doors. Moments later, they were sitting in the big leather seats inside his jet. Their bags were stowed, and the final flight checks completed.
“We are ready to taxi out to the runway,” the pilot said from the cockpit.
Mina sat across from him, her seatbelt cinched across her waist as she stared down at a paperback novel. He glanced over the distance between them, trying to get a peek at the cover. She lifted the book, shifting in her seat. It was one of those romance novels she read.
He gritted his teeth, thinking that she no longer had use for him. She was making it on her own. He was nothing to her except a momentary steppingstone. He grumbled and sighed, looking out the window as the jet taxied to the runway.
“Take off in five minutes,” the pilot said.
Spencer checked his watch. They would be back in LA in eight hours. When they returned, they could complete the annulment of their sham marriage. This would be the most excruciating eight hours of his life.
But why? Why did he care? He didn’t know this woman. He didn’t need her. It was a fake marriage for the benefit of his grandfather’s ridiculous requests. He’d met the requirements of the will, and it was done. What did it matter that he would never again see the sunlight shine in her hair or her smile as she bit her lip while reading?
The jet approached the runway and began its takeoff, charging over the tarmac at increasing speed until it launched into the air. The inertia made his stomach sink as if he were falling, faster and faster as they gained altitude. He put his palm to his forehead. Mina inhaled sharply and looked up from her book.
“That gets me every time,” she said.
“Me too,” he muttered.
She looked back down at her book as if to ignore him but then set it down and stared up into his eyes.
“You have something to say?”
She heaved a sigh and then looked out the window as the clouds drifted by below. She pursed her lips and stared back at him, crossing her arms.
“I don’t know how to say anything to you.”
“Does it matter?” he grumbled.
“I don’t know. It really depends on you, I guess,” she said with an irritated cock of her chin.
“What depends on me?”
“It all depends on you, Spencer.”
“All of what?” His curiosity matched his annoyance.
She growled at him, baring her teeth. She made a grunting noise with clenched fists and rolled her eyes.
“We’ve reached cruising altitude. You may remove your seatbelts and move about the cabin,” the pilot announced.
“Why are you so dense?”
“Dense? That’s something I’ve never been accused of.”
“Oh, you’re not stupid. That’s for sure.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and stood. “In fact, I wouldn’t doubt if you were a genius intellectually, but when it comes to other people and their feelings, you are a complete idiot.”
“I never claimed to be a touchy-feely person.” He watched her pace around the cabin with amused surprise.
“No one ever said anything about touchy-feely. No. But you don’t even have the most rudimentary awareness of anyone else’s emotions or needs.”
“Who exactly are you talking about? You?”
“And what if I am talking about me?”
“What is it you have to say, Mina?” He threaded his fingers together over his lap.
She growled again and slapped her hands at her sides. She spun on him, staring him down.
“You really have no idea how I feel about you, do you?”
“Feel about me?”
“You don’t, do you?” She drew back, crossing her arms and glaring down at him.
“I can honestly say I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“That’s what I mean.” She turned away again. Her back was to him, and all he could see of her face was the narrow outline of her profile. Was she crying? Why would she be crying? “Do you remember kissing me the other night?”
“Of course I do,” he said in a low rumbling voice. Why was she bringing up that kiss? It had been a mistake, something that would confuse them both. He’d momentarily lost control, the fault of his dragon, but he hadn’t taken it too far. Why was she mentioning it now?
She turned back to him, her expression open and wounded. Her eyes glistened.
“Didn’t you feel anything?”
“I did. That’s why I stopped.”
She strode to the chair beside him and sat down. Leaning forward, she took his hands in hers in the most startling gesture. He balked, and his eyes widened, but she didn’t let go. She rubbed the pads of her thumbs over his knuckles and stared down at his hands before gazing back up at him.
“When are you going to let yourself feel your feelings, Spencer?”
“I don’t have any feelings.”
“Yes. You do. And those feelings are the same as mine. When you kissed me the other night, I thought you would finally admit it, finally admit what we’ve both been feeling all along. Kitty Malone got where she is today for a reason. Does that mean anything to you?”
“I had an investigator look into her claims. She goes to great lengths to appear legitimate, but her numbers could easily be fudged.” He rolled his eyes and drew his hands away.
“Spencer, I’m in love with you.”
He almost choked on his own saliva. A stone fell in his stomach, and his heart pulsed like it might stop. He clutched his chest, and his eyes went wide. His inner dragon roared triumphantly.
“What?”
She took his hand again, staring into his eyes. “I’m in love with you. And I have been from the start. I tried to resist it. I waited for you to figure it out yourself—to figure out that you’re in love with me too. But you’re such an idiot that here I am, having to tell you.”
“Mina, I…”
“Stop trying to deny yourself what you really want. Life isn’t all about opening resorts and making money. That’s what your grandfather was trying to tell you. That’s why Kitty put us together. I understand how important love is. It’s what I want more than all the treasures and gold and money and luxuries in the world. And as big a creep as you are, I can’t help loving you. You’re like a little boy who doesn’t know how to share his feelings. How to say what he means and what he needs. I should be mad as hell at you, but I’m not. I just feel so sorry for you that no one ever showed you how to express your love.”
All the swirling emotions he’d kept locked inside his heart burst out and flooded his body and mind with multitudes of sensation. He sucked a breath, feeling as if he might suffocate. He could barely breathe, and darkness encroached around the corners of his eyes. Was he going to pass out?
He couldn’t be having all these feelings. It was just too much. Memories and emotions flooded into him from every direction, and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that her words were true.
He’d tried all his life to keep his need for love and connection locked in the deepest, darkest dungeon of his heart. He had been trained to do it, and it had come naturally to him. But now, here was Mina, brave enough to tell him how she felt in the face of all of that. Her lovely eyes stared up at him, and her sweet mouth told him all the things he didn’t want to hear.
He rose from his chair, nearly stumbling away down the aisle. He placed his hand on the wall for balance as darkness swirled around him. He loosened his tie and threw it on the chair beside him before unbuttoning
several shirt buttons. He had to breathe. He needed fresh air. It would take another seven hours to get back to LA, and he would be stuck in this jet with this girl who wanted to make him feel things.
He turned to her and stared at her open face. He could deny every word she’d said, brush her off and get on with his life. But he couldn’t. What she said was true. And he felt...God dammit, he felt exactly the same way she did.
He rushed to her and fell to his knees on the floor beside her. He gathered her hands in his and kissed her knuckles and palms in a torrent of need.
“Forgive me,” was all he could manage to say.
She pulled her hands away, ran them through his hair, and cupped his cheeks, forcing him to look at her.
“I love you, Mina. I do—from the first moment I laid eyes on you.”
He looked away and bit his knuckle. He couldn’t believe he was saying these words.
She sank onto the floor beside of him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He enveloped her waist and dragged her to him, kissing her with all the pent-up need he’d locked inside him.
The floodgates opened. He let out an animalistic growl as he consumed her mouth until she was breathless. He was so hard and so beyond the point of control that he couldn’t wait a moment longer.
He stood and guided her to her feet. A moment later, he had her cradled in his arms, carrying her to the back cabin where a bedroom waited. Now that he had opened himself up to his feelings, he would never close them off again.
Chapter 16
Mina panted as Spencer deposited her on the bed. His kiss curled her toes and flooded her body with liquid desire. She was unbelievably turned on as she watched him pull off his suit and throw it on the floor. He crawled over to her and stripped her down to her panties.
He placed his hand on her chest, holding her down as he stood above her, his teeth clenched and his eyes bright with his inner dragon. She could see the thick outline of his shaft straining his black designer boxer-briefs. She bit her lip and reached up to stroke him. He let out an anguished moan at the contact of her hand. His eyes rolled back, his mouth opening.
He regained control and slid between her legs, pressing his cock against her need. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he claimed her mouth, kissing her hard and deep as his throat rumbled his pent-up desire.
She felt his cock throbbing against her. That alone could have made her come. But Spencer slid down her body, licking her nipples and belly as he went. He pulled off her panties and spread her legs, taking a deep draw of her scent.
Embarrassment rose in her cheeks, and she almost tried to stop him. Spencer had become an unstoppable force, and all she could do was lean back and let him drown her in pleasure. His mouth consumed her, sucking her entire core at once. He growled against her as his tongue tapped her clit. She called out in surprise as the sensation slapped her with arousal. “Oh, my God, Spencer.”
She arched her back, her body going rigid. He pressed her down onto the bed and gripped the back of her thighs as he dined on her naked, wet flesh like a hungry animal. He dipped his tongue into her virgin channel and then slid it up to her pleasure bud over and over until her mind went blank, and her body became his instrument of desire. She abandoned herself to the torrent of pleasure. A riptide of need drew her far from the shore and drew her down into a deep sea of long-ignored desire.
She felt herself drowning under the weight of her need. Her body erupted, shuddering and contracting violently under his tongue. She sucked a breath, her eyes going wide. She groaned his name. Spencer rose to kiss her, sliding his salty tongue over her lips. He cupped her face and pressed his shaft against her slick entrance.
“I’m going to take you,” he said in a rumbling voice. “Claim you as my true mate.”
“I want it, but…I’ve never…”
“Never?”
“I’ve never…had sex.” She pursed her lips hard in embarrassment. “Is it okay?” she breathed.
“Of course. That just means you’re all mine.”
“I’m a little bit scared.”
He kissed her cheek, holding her close, rubbing his hands up and down her back.
“You’re not ready,” he whispered.
“But…” She stroked his cock.
“Let’s call this a practice run. It’s been a while for me too.”
“What should we do?”
“Hmm? Ah. Have you ever…ehm, sucked a man’s…penis?”
“Um, no.”
“Would you like to try?”
“Mmhm.”
He gathered himself up on his knees. She looked up at him gripping his thick shaft in his hand. She climbed on her hands and knees and sat before him. He gripped the base of his cock as he gazed down at her with dark, hooded eyes.
“I’m not sure what to do,” she said.
“Do what comes to you.”
She leaned forward and tentatively licked up the shaft. He slid his hand through her hair, breathing his approval. “That feels good.”
She gripped his length with both hands as she slid her mouth over the tip. He roared as she sucked. She wanted him so bad. She wanted to give him pleasure and love. But right now, more than anything, she wanted to give him a big, fat orgasm.
She might be a virgin, but she had heard about how to give a blowjob. She’d just never done it before. Holding her hands together under her mouth, she began to move up and down his shaft, sucking hard and swirling her tongue around his length. He stroked her cheek with one hand and held her hair back with the other.
“Oh, Mina,” he growled. “You’re an angel.”
She felt him growing harder, his hips tipped forward in a restrained thrust. She groaned, growing wetter. She gripped him harder, stroking and sucking vigorously until he groaned with release. Hot, thick liquid pumped into the back of her throat.
Spencer swore above her as she swallowed down every last drop of his seed. She released her hands and licked the length of his dick before collapsing on the bed. He lay beside her, gathering her in his arms and holding her like a treasure against his chest.
“I will never let you go. You are mine. My wife. My mate. I’m a blind fool, Mina. You were right about everything. I can’t believe I almost lost you. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m sorry too,” she whispered, twirling her finger through the hair on his chest. “I should have been honest myself.”
“I never gave you a chance. I’ve been terrible to you. I don’t deserve you.”
“Maybe not,” she said with a chuckle. “But you’re stuck with me.”
She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her hard on the mouth.
“Really. I don’t deserve you. Kitty Malone gave me something more valuable than all the shares in Camden International and all of my resorts and every hour of work I’ve ever done in my life. She gave me you. I will never undervalue you again.”
“Are you sure you’re not just saying that because your business associates like me, and I just gave you a blowjob?” she teased.
He rolled her over on her back and pinned her hands over her head, staring into her eyes.
“Don’t ever think that again.” He pulled her hand up to his chest and pressed it against his heart. “Do you feel that? Do you feel how fast it’s beating? That is for you. It belongs to you. I belong to you, and so does everything I own.”
“I don’t want everything you own, Spencer. All I want is you.”
* * *
They touched down in LA as the evening sun slipped behind the horizon. When Mina and Spencer climbed down the stairs of the jet onto the tarmac, the limo was waiting to take them to the penthouse. They held hands, giving each other private glances as they climbed down the stairs and into the limousine. On the ride home, they sat close together, their fingers threaded. Mina’s head rested against Spencer’s chest.
When they’d left Los Angeles, it had been a much different situation. She had been vulner
able and desperate for his attention, not receiving any of what she needed. But on their return, it was as if a light had turned on inside of him. He could see what he’d been missing for so long. He turned to her and kissed the top of her head, not checking his phone once on the way home.
It was late, and they were both tired from the trip. Spencer called ahead to have the chef prepare them a private meal. When they arrived, Mina changed out of her traveling clothes, took a shower, and put on sexy yoga pants and a tank top. She met Spencer in the kitchen where he was inspecting the meal the cook had left on hot plates for them.
He had changed into a pair of black lounge pants and a silky T-shirt, the V-neck showing a hint of his chest. When he saw her staring at him from the doorway, he took her into his arms, smiling and gazing into her eyes. They had agreed to relax over dinner, nothing formal, just the two of them, together.
Spencer set up the food on the patio table with twinkling patio lights shining all around. The Southern California air was warm and balmy, and a light breeze blew in from the ocean. The night was clear, and the twinkling lights of the city spread out below them. The cook had prepared lasagna with three meats and cheeses, a big garden salad, French bread, and a bottle of red wine. It wasn’t fancy, but it was perfect.
“Tell me about this publishing contract.” Spencer took a sip of wine.
“They’ve offered me a generous advance. I’ve already accepted the terms.”
“Was the book really about us?” He raised an eyebrow.
“In a way. It’s about a girl who desperately needs love in her life. She is set up with a cold and distant businessman who needs love even more. They don’t connect at first, even though they are both dying to. In the end, they finally come together, and it’s beautiful.”
“That does sound vaguely familiar,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
“I wrote about how I wanted things to turn out between us—what would happen if you stopped ignoring me and admitted your feelings.”
“I don’t want to ignore you ever again.” He took her hand. “There was so much I didn’t see before today. I had no idea you cared for me. At least, that’s what I’d convinced myself. Maybe I didn’t believe it was possible.”
Dragon’s Fake Bride: Billionaire Mate-Maker Page 9