Billionaires, Boarders, and Bastards: A Limited-Time Collection of Reverse Harem Romance Novellas

by C. M. Stunich

  “Is this what you want? Because my brothers have a history of convincing people to do things they shouldn't,” he says with genuine sincerity. Looking up at me expectantly, he takes my hand with the engagement ring in his. His thumb absentmindedly circles the delicate white gold band. Where he touches me, my skin tingles. Jack's not going to move until I answer, is he?

  I throw Hudson a quick look, silently asking for his help. All I get from him is a wicked smirk and a shrug of his muscular shoulders. My stomach is in knots and I feel tongue-tied, panicked, like some hormone ridden teenager. Why is this is so hard all of a sudden? It's not like this is a real proposal or anything. Because it feels like one? A man that makes your heart race is on one knee and a beautiful elegant ring is on your finger … I get control over my emotions and libido. This is a business arrangement, nothing more.

  “Y-Yes,” I manage to stammer out. Jack leans down without taking the rich green of his emerald eyes off my face. He kisses the diamond ring with a sensual brush of lips.

  “Oh good. I'm really looking forward to getting to know each other a little better. If you'd said no, I'd've been absolutely devastated,” he says, letting his wicked intentions fill every syllable. Picking himself up off the floor, he slides back into the seat next to me.

  “Leave her alone, Jack; she isn't interested,” Hudson says. His silken voice no longer has the flirty undertones, instead there is a hint of something else. Jealousy? No. Can't be. I'm sure I'm just imagining it. I look over at him and he is frowning at Jack. When he sees me looking, he flashes me a smile dripping with sex.

  “Well, gorgeous, we must have some serious chemistry. Hudson's already trying to go all alpha male on me and we haven’t even fucked yet,” Jack replies. I can tell from his tone, he is half-joking. His primary purpose is trying to get a rise out of his brother, but here we go again. These Northington brothers walk around like the world should kiss their asses. I won't be treated like a toy they can fuck whenever they please.

  “Let's get a few things straight. Firstly, if you want to have any chance of convincing anyone—let alone your father—that you are willing to share a wife, then you'd better stop all this stupid sibling rivalry crap and start acting like adults. Secondly, I'm not some contest, some game where you see who can fuck me first. I'm a person with feelings. And for the record, I'm not fucking either of you—period.” I raise my chin in defiance, purposefully moving myself to the other end of the limo. Jack and Hudson look at one another in shock. It's Jack who speaks first, his smoky voice as confident and controlled as ever.

  “May I apologize on behalf of my brothers for this afternoon as well as my actions just now? No disrespect was meant; I was simply attracted to you in such a profound way and thought you felt the same. I can't promise I'll stop trying to fuck you, but if I promise to back off tonight, will you stay? I love Christmas lighting, but no one ever wants to go with me,” Jack says, trying to give me puppy dog eyes. It ends up making me laugh because there is nothing helpless about this man. He is all predator, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

  “Fine. But only if he stops, too.” I cross my arms over my chest in an attempt to look stern; all it does is draw their gazes to my cleavage. Oops. I let my hands drop uselessly to my lap, pretending I can't see their hungry looks.

  “Okay. If you really want to torture yourself, I can wait,” Hudson says, giving me one last scorching once-over before he looks out the window. I roll my eyes, but let the comment go.

  “It's time to break open the eggnog; we can't look at lights without it,” Jack says.

  “I'm more of a hot cocoa kind of girl,” I quip, daring him to disagree. He gives me a sinfully decadent smirk.

  “That's only because you haven't had mine.”

  We spend the rest of the night driving all over the city, looking at lights and getting drunk on the best eggnog I've ever had. I must admit, looking at Christmas lights from the inside of the limousine is pretty amazing. Neither boy seems capable of completely turning off the flirting, but they try to keep it to an acceptable level, and I appreciate the effort.

  The most surprising part of the night is that two sexy billionaires actually make pretty good company. Not once is the conversation awkward or forced. By the time we're ready to call it a night, we're all unconscionably drunk and decide we should just crash at Jack's house. The last thing I remember is the warmth of strong arms carrying me and the comforting brown sugar and vanilla scent of Hudson's skin.

  CHAPTER THREE

  My dreams are filled with the comforting smells of Christmas and the musky scent of men … of scattered visions of Jack and Hudson holding my hair back as I lean over the toilet, helping me out of the shower, laying me on a bed made of clouds. They kiss my forehead and brush my hair back …

  Something smacks me on the shoulder and I'm startled awake. I sit up frantically, trying to figure out where I am. I'm in a large bed in a grand bedroom dripping with old world elegance. There is a fireplace with a mantel covered in holiday decorations on the opposite wall, and on my left is an elegant Christmas tree.

  I look down and see Jack is asleep on one side of me and Hudson on the other, both are shirtless and snoring. I'm wearing a long-sleeved red and white sleep shirt. This is definitely not the dress I was wearing last night. I frantically try to remember what happened after we got here, but can't really recall anything substantial.

  OMG. Did we have sex?

  Part of me wants to wake them up and find out exactly what happened. The other part of me just wants to get the hell out of there before they wake up.

  I have got to get out of here. I slowly crawl out of the big warm bed as I try to carefully extricate my self from between the two drop-dead gorgeous men sleeping on either side of me. Somehow I manage.

  Quickly, I scan the gorgeous room trying to find my stuff. I don't see my dress or shoes but my purse is lying on a chair near the fireplace. I tiptoe my way over to it and pull out my phone then shut myself in the bathroom.

  Even this room is decorated for Christmas.

  I end up smiling in spite of myself. I love Christmas. But I think Jack has me beat. His house—what little of it I've seen—is practically made for Christmas, like something out of a book.

  I'm not sure what I should do now. It's almost noon according to my phone. I never sleep in this late. Then again, I've never gotten black out drunk before. I know I'm a lightweight since I so rarely drink, but really, eggnog of all things. Lucia is going to make fun of me forever, but I decide to call her anyway.

  I need advice.

  I pace back and forth, waiting for her to pick up; Lucia answers the phone on the second ring.

  “Hey, I was wondering when you were going to call. So. Did you do him?” She jumps right to the embarrassing questions.

  “I can't remember?” I whisper as quietly as I can, cupping my hand over my mouth. I really don't want to wake them up. Even though she can't see me, my face is beat red.

  “Why are you whisp—” She stops before finishing the question. “You're at his house, aren't you?” Lucia sounds way too excited about the prospect of me having sex. It hasn't been that long.

  “Technically, it's his brother Jack's house,” I whisper back. I can feel my blush getting even worse.

  “Wait, which one is Jack? Is he there, too?” she asks, and I can practically see her pinching her brow trying to remember who is who.

  “A new one. He went lighting with me and Hudson last night.” Trying to find the words to tell her exactly what happened has me realizing exactly how weird of a situation I've gotten myself in right now.

  “How did that happen?” She sounds confused.

  “I took the fiancée gig.” I sigh; I make sure to keep my voice low.

  “As soon as I saw you sucking face with that tall drink of water, I knew you would.” Lucia laughs, and I roll my eyes.

  “Anyway, Hudson was telling me his brother Jack loves Christmas—which he does. You should see this place; it's
magical. And festive. And elegant. There is a freaking Christmas tree in the bedroom.” I end up being slightly louder than I originally intend. I lower my voice again.

  “Is he as hot as his brother? If so, you need to make yourself the center of that hunk sandwich,” she says in typical Lucia fashion.

  “Yes. Jack is just as out of this world beautiful as his brothers, but that isn't the point. Should I try to—” Jack reaches over my shoulder and grabs the phone out my hand.

  “I'll have Natalie call you back in a bit,” he says, right before he hangs up. I turn around to face him. How dare he hang up on my sister.

  But words fail me.

  I thought he was panty melting in a suit … but shirtless? Wow.

  “Out of this world beautiful, huh?” Jack says. The heat in his smoky voice gives me butterflies and sends a violent shudder down my body. I look him up and down. Jesus Christ. If I wasn't irritated by his rudeness I might not have the strength to stand. A shirtless god of sex and sin is standing less than a foot from me. The waistband of his white silk pajama pants is slung low on his hips, giving me a great view of all the hills and valleys on his perfect muscular body. His emerald eyes watch me hungrily. “Quite the compliment, wouldn't you say, Hudson?”

  I look up just as Hudson appears. He lifts his elbow up and leans against the doorjamb, an arrogant lazy smirk resting on his face. He looks just like he did last night, all slouchy bad boy swagger … only this time, he's shirtless, too. And the sight takes my breath away. This billionaire bad boy has tattoos—lots of them. I knew it! Yesterday, they were completely hidden beneath his tailored suit. Now they're on full display.

  Hudson is tattooed from wrist to wrist, just above the line where his shirtsleeve might fall if he were wearing a button up. His chest and shoulders are a kaleidoscope of color, like a fine painting on the world's most beautiful canvas. I'd have to get closer to know for sure … but it doesn't seem like his tattoos have a theme. The work is exquisite, and it fits together well, but I see hearts, clocks, stars, and even a … Christmas tree design buried in all that ink?

  “And she hasn't even seen the best part yet,” Hudson continues with a sexy wink.

  I try to shake off the fog of lust. These Northington brothers might be literally the hottest men on the planet, but spending too much time around them is a bad idea. They're the typical, handsome, rich, entitled assholes that every city has. So unaccustomed to someone telling them no they are intrigued by it. Ah, to be so lucky. Nothing they say or do can be trusted. Once the challenge is gone, they will drop me like a hot chestnut.

  I need to keep my distance, knock this party out of the park so maybe some of their rich friends will hire me for other events. The thought makes me panic. A week to plan an important event—even one with such a small guest list—is not nearly enough.

  “I have a Christmas engagement party to plan and not a lot of time, so I'd better get going,” I say, not looking either of them in the face. Before I can stop myself, I add, “and I'm not sure what happened between us”—I gesture between the three of us—“but if we had sex, it's never happening again.”

  The Northington assholes exchange a glance.

  “You mean you don't remember?” Jack says, stepping forward and brushing the hair off my forehead. The small gesture makes my breath quicken.

  “You got so drunk you spent half the night over the toilet. We ended up having to shower you off and put you in something clean,” Hudson continues. The dreams … they were real. I stand there in shock, my eyes wide.

  These two wicked dangerous men spent the night holding my hair back while I puked my guts out?

  In the light of day, I find that hard to believe.

  “Nothing happened. Trust me—you'd remember if it had,” Hudson continues, his warm caramel eyes crinkling at the corners. God, these guys are relentless. Get away before you get swept up in this fantasy, Natalie. Guys like this … they marry rich socialites. Normal girls like me will never be more than a hot fuck.

  “I thought we agreed for you both to back off,” I say, pushing past both of them and into the room. I can feel their eyes following me as I walk, painfully aware that this nightshirt, while very cozy and warm, is also short. Jack follows me into the room with Hudson only a step or two behind.

  “That agreement was for yesterday only. And I believe I gave you ample warning about that,” Jack says, his green eyes flashing with need as he walks toward me. Without thinking, I take several steps backward. My thighs hit the edge of the bed as he towers above my tiny frame. My blood is racing; wetness blooms between my thighs. Unconsciously, I rub them together. His pupils dilate and he licks his lips.

  “Fuck.” I hear Hudson curse under his breath from only a few feet away. “Do you have any idea how hot you look right now?”

  Jack leans down, teasing my neck and ear with hot breath.

  “You are magnificent, beautiful but unique. Like a snowflake … one of a kind.” I know his words are lies, but my heart flutters in my chest anyway. “I have never felt physical attraction like this before. It has been an all-consuming ache since the moment I laid eyes on you.”

  I can feel what little resolve I had crumbling under the onslaught of unrelenting sexual desire. I glance at Hudson, but he's no longer content to just watch.

  “I know you feel what we do; I could taste it on your lips last night,” Hudson practically purrs against my heated flesh. He climbs on the bed behind me. I am hyperaware of his presence before he even touches me. He kisses his way down the back of my neck, trailing his hands down my sides.

  At the same moment, Jack slides a hand along the outside of my exposed thigh. I gasp from the sheer pleasure of it. Jack's bright eyes hungrily take in the look of ecstasy that crosses my face from a simple brush of his fingertips. The tender ache between my legs has grown to an almost unbearable throb. I take a deep breath and relax into the feel of their expert hands and masterful lips.

  Hudson wraps his strong arm around my waist and pulls me up onto the bed, against the heat of his tattooed chest. He keeps me there, tucked against him with one arm. Surrounded by his uniquely sweet, but undeniably masculine scent, I surrender myself.

  The other man drops between my thighs, pushing them open with a firm but genteel pressure. They spread, revealing evidence of my arousal to Jack. I lay there, open and exposed. Panting. The look I get from him is all male. I can see a rapacious appetite just barely held in check. His green eyes slowly rake over my body.

  Hudson unbuttons the top of my nightgown. He trails his hands along my now exposed chest before taking the tender swell of my breast in his strong hand. He works the sensitive flesh with practiced perfection, releasing it only momentarily to gently tease the pebbled points of my nipples.

  Jack slides his hands along my legs, all the way up to the black lace of my favorite panties. He sensually reaches out, pulling the slip of fabric off and tossing them on the floor. Desire races through me; a moan of ecstasy escapes my lips. My sex is throbbing with the need to be touched.

  Hudson slides his hand down to the sensitive spot between my thighs, working my body into a frenzy with only a few flicks of his masterful fingers. I swear, I see fireworks behind my eyes. I arch my back in response. This seems to excite him. His breathing gets faster, deeper. And I can feel the hardness of his arousal against my back.

  Jack takes a few steps away from the bed, dropping his pants to the floor and exposing the long hard length of himself. He's so big. He grabs his shaft in a firm grip. From where he's standing, only a couple of feet away, he has a perfect view of my sex.

  “I'm bigger,” I hear Hudson whisper. I try to think of something witty to reply, but my words are lost in the waves of ecstasy. He flicks his finger over a particularly sensitive spot and I moan more loudly than I intend. He groans in response.

  Jack pumps himself slowly, matching the pace of Hudson's fingers as he works my throbbing clitoris. His green eyes stay locked on my face, watching my every mov
e. When I moan, it seems to spur him on, making him move faster. The muscles in his arm flex as he works himself toward climax. The noises he makes are deep and guttural. Primal. Almost longing.

  My trembling body can't move, yielding to the overwhelming pleasure. Hudson doesn't speed up; instead he keeps a steady pace. The pressure at the base of my spine begins to build at a rate I could never have thought possible, my want reaching a crescendo. Jack is pumping himself fast and hard now, his frenzy picking up, his breathing in time with mine.

  The orgasm comes to me so swiftly, I don't have time to prepare myself for the violent and uncontrollable burst of white-hot intensity that rips a scream from my throat. My whole body shudders then goes limp in Hudson's strong arms. I don't get to enjoy my post-orgasm bliss because standing in the doorway is the last person I would want to be here right now.

  Gabriel Northington is stoically standing in the doorway, exuding confidence and cruelty. The tempest-tossed depths of his eyes are just as stunning as they were yesterday. He narrows them at me with a decadently dark smirk. Everything about him just exudes opulence.

  A navy three-piece suit, black Oxfords, and a silver tie are draped over his tall lean frame. He looks like a demon—deadly, dangerous, and powerful but also elegant … refined … savagely gorgeous. Cold as the frost, that's him. Gabriel adjusts his glasses, pushing them in place with a single finger. He chuckles darkly under his breath.

  “Ms. Winters, you managed to exceed even my expectations. I didn't think I would see you in such a compromising position for several days at least.” He pushes into the room. I sit up, pulling the fabric of the unbuttoned nightgown around myself in an attempt to cover my naked form. Immediately, I miss the warmth of Hudson against my back. If this jerk hadn't interrupted us, who knows what would've happened.