Just like Grey (Series ONE Complete Set): Billionaire Romance

by Jessie Cooke

  22

  Axel

  I usually pride myself on my sadistic qualities. However, as I sat alone at the head of my massive formal dining table and watch Holly raise and lower the hand that wears the engagement ring of another man I had to wonder if my masochistic tendencies were taking over. The fake smile had been pasted on my face for so long that my cheeks were beginning to become sore. Suddenly I regretted ever inviting any of them and I just wanted them to leave.

  My cook out did himself on dinner so at least that was a high point. We were served butternut squash soup and salad made with fresh spinach. The entrée was king crab and red potatoes with garlic and artichoke hearts and for dessert, my favorite, French cheesecake. After Holly finished eating every last bite of her cheesecake, she placed her hand on her belly and said, “Wow! I feel pregnant now.” Tom and Mark laughed. I didn’t find it funny. For that split second that I thought she was carrying Mark’s baby, I wondered if jumping from the landing of the third story would kill me.

  “If you’re all finished, why don’t we go back to the den and I can have you two go over the documents I wanted you to read?”

  They all agreed and followed me into the den. My little housekeeper Annette slipped in like a ghost with more coffee and tea and Mary, my house manager whose face would crack like a stone if she ever smiled, brought me my scotch and offered drinks to the others. When everyone was settled with what they wanted, I handed Tom and Mark a stack of documents and then looked at Holly. God she was beautiful.

  “Would you like a tour of the house?” I asked her. She immediately looked at Mark. I felt a sharp pang in my chest. Damn that Connie for putting it in my head that I was in love. The anger I would normally feel towards him when she submitted to him had turned into pain. I hate pain. Mark smiled and nodded at her.

  “It looks like we’ll be busy here for a while,” he said. That was my intention. She looked back up at me and with real enthusiasm she said,

  “I’d love to see it.” She stood up and I offered her my arm like a gentleman. She took it and I had an overwhelming urge to scoop her up and take her straight to my bedroom suite. One of these days. I led her first through the formal dining room we’d just eaten in, into the informal one. It has a horseshoe shaped island with barstools and all the essentials of a small kitchen as well as an industrial coffee machine and coffee bar that would make Starbuck’s green with envy. “Oh wow Axel! It’s gorgeous.” It’s nice. She’s gorgeous. I just smiled and led her into the chef’s kitchen. He was still there so I introduced her to him. He kissed her hand and she blushed and giggled. I thought about how much I’d like to fuck her in the little breakfast nook in the corner. We took the back stairs up and as we went from one bedroom to the next, I fantasized about doing her in every room. When we got to my bedroom suite she looked around in awe of the lavish furnishings. “This is just amazing Axel. I can’t believe you don’t spend all of your time here.”

  “I don’t want that drive into Manhattan every day. Besides, this house was made for much more than one person. I don’t care much for rattling around here all alone.” She nodded and smiled. I led her into the master bathroom and she audibly gasped.

  “Oh my God! I amend what I said about spending all your time in the house. You should spend it in here!” I had to smile at her enthusiasm. She let her fingers run across the smooth, white granite surfaces and checked out the nine-foot jet tub and the glass encased shower with the two gold nozzles. She even felt the plush white towels that hung on the rack. I just stood back and watched her and imagined her soaking in that tub…as she leaned back against my naked chest. “I love it!” she said. “All of it! It’s amazing.”

  “It’s nice,” I agreed. “A bit over the top but…”

  “But when has Axel Maxwell done anything that wasn’t over the top?” she was smiling so pretty. It seemed like she’d gotten over being angry with me and we were finally back to comfortable. I didn’t have any delusions that it would last. I knew myself well and I knew that I was bound to do something else to piss her off or make her uncomfortable any minute.

  After we left the master suite, I took her up to the third floor. Most of that floor was set up for entertainment. I had a theatre room and a bowling alley as well as a pool table and full bar. There was one room at the end that I didn’t show her. When we reached the stairs she glanced over at the closed door and said, “Is that a playroom too?” I could tell by the look on her face that she thought it was a dungeon.

  “No. That is a guest bedroom. It’s where I keep my mother.”

  “You keep your mother in there?” A look of horror crossed her face. I had to laugh.

  “No, I didn’t mean it that way. I’m eccentric but I’m not Norman Bates. I mean when she visits, that’s her room. She likes it because there’s a perfect view of the gardens out back.”

  “Oh…can I see it…the view, I mean?”

  “Um…”

  “It’s okay, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. Of course I don’t want to intrude in your mother’s personal room.”

  “It’s not that you’d be intruding…Oh hell, come on, I’ll show you.” I keep Mom’s room locked. She doesn’t like my servants to clean it. Before she wraps up her visit each time, she does it herself. I unlocked it with the key and stepped aside so that Holly could step in.

  “Oh wow! It’s lovely!” Only Holly would say that. My mom…bless her heart, has not acclimated to her son being a billionaire. My house overwhelms her and she only comes to stay when I beg her and whine. She’d decorated her own room…all with furnishings that she’d had since I was a boy. It’s not lovely in the least, but for some reason it made me deliriously happy that Holly thought it was. She not only favored my mother in looks, their personalities were a lot alike as well. She stepped over to the French doors and looked through the glass.

  “You can open the doors and step out,” I told her. There was a balcony on the other side.

  As soon as she opened the doors, my senses were assaulted by the smells of the roses in the garden below. Mom loves it. I’ve always hated it. Holly’s face looked just like Mom’s the first time she saw it. I was beginning to think maybe I really did need that Freudian therapist.

  “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” she said.

  I’m not sure why, but I was really thrilled that she was more impressed with the down to earth parts of my massive home than she was with the rest of its excessive opulence. I stood back with my hands in my pockets and watched her. I’ve never wanted to touch anyone as badly as I wanted to touch her. I wondered how she would feel about being tied up in the garden while I ravaged her body…She must have seen the lust in my eyes because she suddenly looked slightly nervous and said,

  “Maybe we should head back downstairs.”

  “Sure,” I’d rather make hot…passionate…urgent love to her on the balcony. But, our guest would be here soon anyways.

  We rode the elevator down and as we stepped off, the doorbell rang. I knew that Mary would answer it and I was really interested in seeing everyone’s first reaction…so I led her into the den. Tom and Mark were still reading through the documents. They looked up when we came in but then all four of their eyes moved to the doorway and their jaws hit the floor. I knew that our guest of honor must have arrived. I turned around and smiled.

  “Consuela! I’m so glad you could make it.” Dirty pool, I know. But when Mark leaves tomorrow, I want Holly to have an image of his “assistant” in her pretty head. It’s risky. There’s always the chance she’ll talk him out of going and I’ll lose her. I doubted that she’d do that though. She was way too supportive.

  “Axel darling! I’m so sorry I missed dinner.” I glanced at Holly. She was staring at Consuela and the look on her face was all green and she didn’t even know yet how much time her fiancé would be spending with the Columbian beauty. I love it when a plan comes together. I kissed Consuela on each of her cheeks and then still holding her hand I
turned to present her to the others.

  “Connie, this is Holly. Holly is my assistant.” The two women sized each other up. I knew for a fact that Consuela disliked most all women. She especially disliked the pretty ones. She loved being the center of attention.

  “Hello,” Holly said politely.

  “Hello,” Connie said. Her accent grew thicker when she was trying too hard to be polite.

  “And this is Tom, and your new boss, Mark Grant.” Holly’s jaw was completely unhinged. Tom looked incredulous and Mark looked like he might have a heart attack as Connie stepped towards him and said,

  “Axel, you didn’t tell me my new boss would be so handsome.” Mark blushed a deep crimson. Tom’s tongue was hanging out and Holly looked like she was contemplating murder. It’s times like this that I loved my life.

  23

  Holly

  “Don’t go. We don’t have to do this. We’re both intelligent, capable people. This is New York City. We can get other jobs. Please Mark, let’s not do this. I’m afraid.”

  He stopped folding his slacks and sat down next to me on his bed. He took my trembling hand into his and said, “What are you afraid of, baby?”

  “You’re not going to come back. We’re not going to make it. Please reconsider this.”

  “Holly, I love you. I’m going to marry you and make babies with you. We’re going to have a future together. Where we work or who we work for…”

  “Or with!”

  “Oh Jeez, not this again.”

  “Don’t you “Oh Jeez” me! It’s not “again” because every time I try and talk to you about this you blow me off.”

  “Because it’s ridiculous. Connie is going to be my assistant, just like you’re Axel’s assistant. I don’t think you’re sleeping with him.”

  I said a silent prayer that the guilt in my chest wasn’t showing on my face. No, I’m not sleeping with him…but I have fantasized about it like a billion times…Oh, and I let him spank me. Damn! “That’s not the point. I trust you. I don’t think that you’re going to sleep with her. But still, you’ll be with this gorgeous woman twelve hours a day and three thousand miles from your fiancé…any woman would be concerned about that.”

  He smiled. “If you trust me, what is there to be concerned about?”

  I felt the tears sting my eyes as I said, “I wish I would have never taken this stupid job! It’s tearing us apart.”

  Mark slipped his arm around me and pulled me into him. He didn’t say anything, he just held me there. I knew he was going to go…and he knew it. I also felt strongly that once he did, it would be the end of us. I didn’t know why I felt that way, but I couldn’t shake it. He held me for a long time and I knew that I was keeping him from his packing. Feeling bad again, I sat up straight and wiped the offending tears off my face.

  “You finish packing. I’m going to go out and get us some dinner.”

  “We can order in. You don’t have to go out.”

  “I know,” I told him. “But I need some fresh air. I’ll be back soon.”

  He pulled me back into him and kissed me. “I love you, Holly.”

  I nodded and wiped my snotty nose on my hand. I’m the most unladylike crier in the world. “I know. I love you too.”

  I left him to his packing and slipped on my jacket and went out into the night air. As I walked, I thought back over the past few months. The day Maggie assigned me to work for Axel I thought maybe I had finally found my career. Working as a personal assistant to a billionaire was good work if you could get it. The pay was great. My boss was gorgeous. Something happened to me though and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what it was. I was basically a vanilla girl living in a vanilla world…and I was happy. Mark and I were in a rut, but we loved each other and I firmly believed we would have found our way out of it on our own. I had a job and so did he. Now…everything was just screwed up.

  I can’t look at Axel without thinking about how turned on I got the day he caught me in his dungeon and spanked me. I can’t close my eyes at night without thinking about being tied up on his bed while he uses those feathers and all those toys on the wall on me. I was getting wet right then on my way to get Mark and me dinner, just thinking about it. Mark, the man I thought was the man of my dreams proposed to me and I accepted…and then Axel offered him a position three thousand miles away and he assigned Sophia Vergara’s doppelganger to be his assistant. What is wrong with that picture? I’m sure that I smell a rat…and his name is Axel Maxwell.

  I turned into the Chinese food restaurant and ordered our dinner to go. I took a seat on the bench while I waited for it and tried to wrap my head around why Axel would want to separate Mark and I. He flirts with me…but he flirts with everyone. I have yet to meet the woman that doesn’t blush at least once in Axel’s presence. So why would he go through so much trouble to get mousy little old me away from my boyfriend. I must be wrong about that…but how could I be? He wrote into Mark’s contract that I had to stay behind. He spanked me…and I felt the evidence of his desire as he did it.

  When the food was ready I walked back to Mark’s apartment with all of this weighing heavily on my mind. I didn’t even realize how dark the apartment was when I walked in the door until I bumped into the wall in the entryway. “Ouch! Mark? Why is it dark in here? Where are you?”

  “I’m in the dining room baby. Bring the Chinese food.”

  I groped for the light in the hallway and switched it on. I made my way down the hall to the dining room wondering what the heck he was up to. When I stepped around the corner where the dining table was, I was surprised at what I saw. There were two tall candles burning in the center of the table and Mark was sitting in the chair at the head of the table, completely nude.

  “Hi,” I said, dumbfounded. “What cha doing?”

  He grinned and crooked a finger at me. “Come closer.”

  I stepped closer and sat the box of Chinese take-out down on the table. He reached up and grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into his lap. He already had a raging hard-on. He put his hand in my hair and pulled my face down into his. Our lips crushed together and he shoved his tongue into my mouth. He kissed me like a starving man and let his tongue trace across every surface in my mouth. Then suddenly and slightly shockingly, he shoved me off his lap back to my feet and he said, “Take your clothes off.” He’s never so rough and demanding. I wasn’t sure whether to be nervous or turned on.

  “You don’t want to go to the bedroom?”

  “No. If I wanted to go to the bedroom, I would have said so. I want you to take off your clothes.”

  Okay, so a little of both. I was too curious to see where he was going with this to refuse, so I started to strip. As he watched me, he started opening the Chinese food containers. My eyes widened as he stuck his finger down into the orange sauce and then into his mouth and sucked. This was so not like Mark. I wondered where he was getting his ideas…then I realized I had a lot of nerve. I’m the one that introduced him to all this stuff after all.

  When I finished undressing he pat his lap with both hands. His cock looked so swollen it had to be painful. I straddled his lap facing him and he immediately began kissing me again. I was so distracted by him sucking on my tongue that I didn’t realize what he was doing behind me. Before I had a chance to realize it and protest I felt something warm and sticky begin at my shoulder and slowly run down the front of my body.

  “Mark! What the heck are you doing?” He didn’t answer me with words. When the orange sauce hit my nipples he bent his head and began ravenously licking and sucking off the sauce. Then he ran his tongue along the underside of each before sucking one completely into his mouth and feasting on it.

  “Oh…. oh wow!” The combination of the warm sauce and his wet tongue was incredibly erotic. My protests had died on my tongue and now I was arching my back and encouraging him to bathe me with it. “Oh baby…that’s so hot!”

  “Egg Foo Yung,” he ordered, barely lifting his
head from where his mouth still sucked and licked at my orange skin. I reached back with one hand and grabbed the closest container. He must have set it there. It was the Egg foo yung. He grabbed it from my hand and once again too quickly for me to think about it, he poured the hot gravy onto my lower abdomen.

  “Oh shit!” It was hotter than the orange sauce and the feel of the thick, hot liquid running down my belly and between my legs was incredible. Mark used both of his hands and lifted me up to sit on the table in front of him. Then once again, he dove in. This time his face was buried between my legs and he licked the gravy off in wide strokes of his tongue. He cleaned up my inner thighs first…and then my mound…then he moved up to my lower abdomen and slowly licked off all remnants of the brown gravy before at last diving into my pussy. I felt his tongue swipe along the inside of my lips, taking out a scoop of gravy that had pooled there with it and I cried out. My hands were in his hair now, pushing him down and egging him on. He reached a finger inside of me and wiped me clean with it before bringing the finger to his lips and letting his tongue come out and lick it clean. He was like a fucking porn star tonight.

  He licked my pussy again until I was practically screaming in orgasm and squeaky clean and then he said, “Stand up and put your hands on the table.” I didn’t question him. So far I’d loved this. I slid off his lap, purposely allowing my hard clit to press down into his throbbing erection as I did. I felt him shake and heard him groan as my feet hit the floor. He didn’t wait for me to turn around. He grabbed my hips and spun me so I was facing the table and then I felt him stand up. “Sweet and sour pork,” he said. I reached for it and nervously handed it back to him. From this angle, facing away from him, I felt vulnerable. He put a hand on the small of my back and he said, “Arch your back and let your ass stick out towards me.” I did as he asked and to my surprise he gave me a hard slap across the butt. I felt my pussy gush with fluid. Then, I felt him hovering over me and just as I was about to turn and see what he was doing, the sweet and sour sauce was pouring along the curve of my hips and draining down into the crack of my ass. I shuddered violently as I felt him kneel behind me and hold my cheeks open with his hands. This was a place that Mark and I had never gone before. He buried his face once again and feasted on me in a way he never had before and while he rimmed me with his suddenly expert tongue he let his fingers reach around and find my clit. He rubbed it hard and fast and between that sensation and his wild licking of my behind I was screaming out in the wildest orgasm I’d ever had. I collapsed down onto the table in front of me as I tried to catch my breath. Who knew that food could be so sexy?