"Hey babe, what's up?" Enrico said, picking up. "I haven't heard from you in quite a while."
"Well, I've been rather busy," Tina replied, sliding down deeper into her chair. It was always naughty talking with Enrico in the office. His voice had just enough of an accent that it could turn her on while practically reading a laundry list, but she needed it so much right now she was willing to take the risk. "I hope you haven't missed me too much?"
"Oh, you know what I've been missing about you," Enrico purred in reply, a slight rasp in his voice. "Should I tell you, or should I show you what I've been missing?"
Tina smiled and thought for a second. "You know what baby? I think I need showing more than just telling. Think you can meet me for drinks at five thirty?"
"Five thirty? Your boss must be out of town if you're getting off work early enough to meet up at five thirty."
Tina chuckled. "That doesn't really matter, does it? Just bring yourself, and make sure the rest of your evening is clear."
"I can do that. Want me to pick you up, or should we meet there?"
"Meet me at Reflections at five thirty. You remember where it is?" she asked, naming her favorite little tapas bar. Not famous, but she didn't need famous for what she wanted to do.
"Of course. Okay babe. Five thirty at Reflections."
The line went dead, and Tina smiled in anticipation. She knew Enrico was bad for her in so many ways. He was a little older, a self professed player who was not above sleeping with his students, although he had been very clear that he and Tina would never have more than a casual relationship.
It took care of one need, she thought. Still, at the back of her mind she wished she could find someone permanent, or at least someone she could be with for more than a night.
CHAPTER 5
T he flight into Chicago-O'Hare airport left Erica with a queasy stomach. She didn't know if it was a side effect of the pregnancy, or the emotions roiling within her. But as soon as she landed, she had Tina send her all the information her assistant had been able to dig up on the Forrester Hotel chain and Dwayne's whereabouts.
Taking a cab from O'Hare to the Forrester Headquarters, she got out to stare up at the impressive skyscraper. While it wasn't the tallest in Chicago, the Forrester Building was still forty stories of steel, glass and concrete, an opulent highlight that oozed money, it seemed. Taking a deep breath, Erica marched her way towards the front entrance, not caring if she had to make a scene in order to get in contact with Dwayne. Just as her fingers found the front door, she heard her name being called.
"Erica?"
She turned, feeling her knees go weak as she saw Dwayne jogging towards her across the small plaza, wearing a dark gray business suit. Slightly behind him was his father, which filled Erica with loathing, but still, the sight of Dwayne left her breathless. Regardless of her emotions, her body couldn't help but react to his presence.
"Dwayne, I..." she got out, before he swept her up in his arms, holding her tightly. In that simple gesture, everything seemed to fall into place. All of the fractured feelings, all of the missing pieces in her life were filled there in his arms, and she rested her head against his chest for the moment she could.
"I've missed you," he whispered, as he set her down. "Why didn't you contact me?"
"I did," she replied, confused. "I thought you were the one ignoring me."
"How could I?" Dwayne said tenderly, stroking her cheek. "You've been in my thoughts every day."
Erica swallowed her fear, and looked him in the eyes. "Dwayne, I have something to tell you."
"Okay," he said with a look of concern. "Is this the part where you say we’re finished?”
"No. Dwayne, I'm pregnant," she said flatly, her nerves not allowing her to do anything else. She looked at him for any sign or reaction, her heart in her throat. "Did you hear me? I said I am pregnant Dwayne. And it's your baby."
"Well well. Hope your fun was worth the child support payments," Dwayne's father said snidely, making his way inside. "I do expect a DNA test to confirm your allegations by the way. I'm sure you've seen them before on Maury Povich?"
Erica was about to turn on him, but instead turned her attention back to Dwayne.
"Well?"
Instead of words, Dwayne's actions answered for him. He swept her up in his arms again, this time kissing her solidly, his joy sparkling in his eyes as he held her close.
"That's amazing news," he finally said as their kiss broke apart. He looked up at the tower, then at his watch. "Listen, I've got a meeting in fifteen minutes, so how about you come with me, and we can talk on the way up? This involves you anyway."
"I guess," Erica replied, looking down at her jeans and sweatshirt. She had dressed for comfort on the airplane, not for business, and thought she looked like a hobo next to Dwayne's custom tailored suit. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," Dwayne replied, his voice firm and tender simultaneously. Making their way across the lobby, he headed for an elevator, taking it for himself and her alone.
Once the doors closed, he turned to her.
"I'm only going to have time to say this once, so please just listen. I'm not my mother and father. I don't care about where you came from, or anything else. I care about you. You and I shared something in London and then again on the island that I've never felt before in my life. The fact that I'm going to become a father to your baby fills me with a greater joy than I could've ever imagined.”
The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open to reveal an office floor dominated by the Forrester Hotel logo. Behind the reception desk, a pretty redhead woman sat, typing away while talking on the phone. Dwayne greeted her with a nod as he took Erica by the hand, leading her down the hall towards a large conference room.
Inside, there were already four other people. Erica could identify Dwayne's father and mother, but the other people she didn't recognize.
"Oh for God's sake, what is she doing here?" Candace Forrester spat as soon as Dwayne led her into the conference room. "Honestly Dwayne, getting your side piece pregnant like your Father has just informed me is one thing, but letting her kind up here, and she isn't even in a service uniform...."
"Mother, shut the fuck up," Dwayne said icily, his steely tone cutting her off. "For my entire life, I've listened as poison poured out of your mouth towards any woman not of what you call proper breeding, which normally meant WASP blue bloods who went to one of the Seven Sisters or whose fathers had eight figure bank accounts. Well, I don't give a shit what you think anymore. I love Erica, you understand? I love her, and I’m going to be a father to our child, and I’m going to raise my baby with more love and affection than you ever showed me."
"Then you will lose your hotels," his father interjected. "When your sister's shares are combined with ours, you won't hold a majority stake any longer."
"I don't give a damn," Dwayne spat. "Don't you understand that? I'm not you, Father. I never have been. If you want to take away control of the hotels, fine. Buy me out, you have the leverage. I'll take the money and make my own empire, with Erica and our baby as part of it. I'm not going to live without love in my life any longer."
"Fine," Dwayne's father replied, turning towards the other two people seated at the table, who had remained silent so far. "Curtis, I can be assured of your votes on the matter?"
"Of course, Peter," the man said, standing and looking at Dwayne with an arrogant stare. "I'll be happy to ensure that...."
"The shares are not in Curtis' name, Father," the woman replied. She also stood, and in her height and her eyes, Erica could see the resemblance between Dwayne and his sister. She was a bit too lean in the face to be called beautiful, but she had a regal air to her that Erica was sure was the product of years of training. "They're in mine. And I've had a change of position. It’s my opinion that the Caribbean hotels should remain right where they are, under Dwayne's control."
"You can't," Candace Forrester began, before her daughter turned her commanding eyes on h
er. For the first time ever, Dwayne saw Candace Forrester wilt under someone else's gaze. He was impressed by the steel in his older sister's eyes, and the strength she was showing.
"Oh yes I can, Mother. Your lessons taught me that."
Peter and Candace Forrester looked from son to daughter for a moment, before storming out of the conference room, saying nothing. Curtis looked at his wife curiously before retreating into the hallway, pausing for just a second as he was torn between being with his wife and following his father-in-law.
"Thank you, Elizabeth," Dwayne said quietly, once there were just the three of them in the conference room. "But why?”
Elizabeth looked out the window of the conference room, where her husband still stood, unsure what to do.
"Because I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did, Dwayne," she said, regret in her voice and eyes. "If you're going to fall in love, then do it. And go make your own damn mistakes. Don't repeat mine."
Dwayne followed his sister's eyes out to where she was staring at Curtis. "Has he hurt you, Lizzie?"
She shook her head sorrowfully. "No, he’d never do that. But there's no love there. There never has been, he was picked by our parents. Curtis loves the Forrester empire and what Father can give him more than he loves me." Elizabeth gathered herself, before turning her face to Erica. "Hello, I'm Elizabeth Forrester Harding, Dwayne's big sister."
"Erica Williams, Dwayne's.... well, I'm not sure yet, but it's a pleasure to meet you, Elizabeth. Thank you."
"You too. Have Dwayne give you my phone number. I want to stay in touch with the mother of my nephew or niece, regardless of what happens. And if he gives you any trouble, just let me know. He'll find he's still not too big for his sister to smack some sense into."
Erica laughed, and Elizabeth left the conference room. It was just Dwayne and her, and she turned to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Did you mean it?"
"Mean what?" Dwayne answered, returning her embrace.
"That you love me."
"Yes. I don't know what you may have read about me and my past, but it doesn't matter. I love you, and that's never happened before."
Erica felt herself snuggle into his arms, her heart breaking with joy. "I love you too."
Dwayne kissed her forehead, then her lips gently. "Let's get out of here," he said. "This isn't my building anyway."
CHAPTER 6
T he entire cab ride across town, Erica's fingers were entwined with Dwayne's, and upon reaching the posh condo building, she barely took the sight into her consideration as he swept her upstairs to his place, pulling his tie off as he came through the door.
"This is my Chicago place," he explained, releasing her fingers just long enough to pull his suit jacket off and hang it on the hook by the door. "I keep it in case family business calls me back, but it's not much."
Erica looked around, and laughed on the inside. Dwayne's idea of "not much" was bigger than her apartment in Miami by a long shot. "I like it. It's you," she replied, looking at the decorations. It looked a lot like Dwayne's bungalow on the island, with lots of art work that focused on the beauty of the human form. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course," Dwayne replied, kicking off his shoes and making his way over to the sofa. It was older, but still comfortable. "You can ask me anything."
"Well, during the time we were apart, I read some of the gossip rags about you, and there were a few that...."
"That said I was a playboy with a taste for short-lived romances with women of a certain upbringing?” Dwayne replied.
Erica nodded, and he sighed. "Chalk a lot of it up to stupidity and immaturity on my part. Growing up in the Caribbean, I got used to seeing people as who they were, regardless of their social status, hair or eye color. I made friends with kids whose families were so poor the kid didn't know where his next meal was coming from, and with kids who were nearly as rich as I was. My best friend to play with was a little kid named Lionel, whose family lived in a cinderblock and bamboo shack about a mile from our place. For three years in a row, the shoes he wore to school were my old ones that I'd outgrown. When my Father moved us back to the mainland, and my Mother started trying to play matchmaker, their ideas of what was a good or bad match for me pushed me to rebel against them. But I did let myself go out with those society girls, get photographed because my parents told me that was what I had to do. As soon as the cameras were off though, I rebelled, raising hell and getting into trouble. But I learned something between the islands and my time since then that my parents never agreed with. It just took me a bit longer to put together the pieces of that lesson."
"What's that?" Erica asked, sitting beside him. Dwayne turned, and cupped her jaw gently.
"That it doesn’t matter if you were born into money and wealth, and that it doesn’t set in stone where you’re going to end up in life. Quality is not dependent on bank account. And most importantly, that you're the most beautiful woman on the planet."
Dwayne leaned forward and kissed her, and Erica felt the familiar wave of desire wash through her that she had missed for so long. She returned his kiss, her tongue coming out to taste his as her eyes filled with tears of joy.
Her fingers found the buttons of his shirt, slipping them out to reveal his muscular chest, a few shades paler than it had been on the island, after a month of Chicago weather. She pushed him back, swinging her legs over to straddle his waist.
"I know you're normally in control of our lovemaking," she said as she finished unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it back, "but I've been without this for too damn long."
Dwayne's murmured consent spurred her on, as she kissed him again, taking his head between her hands to hold him, almost as if she was afraid he would disappear into thin air. She could feel the stiffening bulge in his pants rubbing against her through her jeans, and her body filled with hot desire. Their kisses took on a sharper, more demanding edge, each of them hungry for the other's touch. Dwayne helped her off with her sweatshirt and t-shirt, leaving her in just her plain cotton bra.
"You know, for a fashionista, I keep finding you in Walmart underwear," he joked, before lowering his head and kissing the swells of her breasts. "Maybe you should get a contract with them."
Erica's reply was cut short as he kissed her nipples through the fabric of her bra, biting them gently as they sprung to diamond hardness. She could only groan as his lips hungrily devoured her, and her hips ground on their own down on his hardness. She reached behind her back quickly as she leaned forward, unhooking her bra and pulling her arms free of the shoulder straps. Sitting back, the garment tumbled down to rest between them, and she tossed it to the side to hang off the arm of the sofa. Her nipples tingled in the cool air, and she could feel his eyes take her in as she sat back.
"I love you," he whispered again, before capturing her left nipple again, sucking it greedily into his mouth, making her whimper with pleasure. When he finally let go, she scrambled to her feet, hands flying to her jeans. She hurriedly unbuttoned them and pushed them down her legs, before standing before him in her thong.
"I think you get to take that off," she said, bringing herself forward towards him. With her height, her panties were just at his eye level, and she watched as he first embraced her, wrapping his strong arms around her hips to hold his cheek against her stomach. His eyes closed in appreciation of her and her love, before he kissed her belly softly.
"Your child is growing in there," she said, "and it's a dream come true."
"It is," Dwayne replied, as he pulled her thong down over her legs. "But then again, so are you."
Standing naked before him, she felt a moment of nervousness, until Dwayne lowered his lips to her waist, kissing lower, making his way toward her wet lower lips. She spread her feet a little bit to give him access as he got off the couch to sink to his knees, his hands holding her ass to pull her to him as his tongue found her soft folds, licking them tenderly before swirling around her wet entrance. She felt her legs tremble
as his tongue slithered deeper inside her, twisting and licking in places she had never felt a man's tongue before, driving her wild. He pulled back slightly, before licking back up to circle around her hard clit, fluttering his tongue against her and sending electric jolts throughout her entire body. She bucked against his face, her legs failing her as she felt an orgasm wash through her, thankful that his arms were strong enough to prevent her from falling to the floor.
When Erica could finally support her weight with her legs again, she let Dwayne help her sink to the floor, stretching her body out on the carpet. While her orgasm had helped, she still had a deep desire to be filled by him again, and her body filled with desire once more as he pulled his pants off before kneeing between her legs. His magnificent cock was standing proudly out from his body, the pink head oozing precum from the slit. She spread her legs as wide as possible, pulling her knees up so that she could feel herself fully presented to the man that she loved, eagerly anticipating him to enter her.
* * *
When the peak passed, he collapsed next to her, breathing deeply for a moment before he gathered her to his chest. Erica could feel the sweat from their lovemaking intermingling in their embrace, and her eyes closed as she took in his clean scent and the taste of his sweat under her lips. "I love you," he whispered, letting his words hang in the silence, only interrupted by the beating of their hearts.
Mr. Forrester: An Alpha Billionaire Romance Page 5