The Corrupt Billionaire COMPLETE Box Set

by Hope, Camilla

  “Could get kind of lonely in here,” I said as I peered around the door to the bathroom. “Care to join me?”

  “Don’t need to ask me twice,” Peter said following me inside.

  Once we were in the bathroom, I expected him to strip and push me into the shower. My skin tingled at the prospect of him mounting me against the slick walls. But Peter kept his shirt on his back and simply rolled up his sleeves as he turned the faucet to attention.

  “Hope you like it hot,” he said.

  “Scalding,” I told him.

  Peter’s eyes scanned the room, and he seized a bottle of complimentary bath salts and bubbles. Filling the tub to a frothy point, he extended his hand and helped me into the glorious warmth. As soon as I sat, a contented sigh left my lips, and Peter stopped the flow of the water as he reached for a washcloth and doused it in the water before he leaned against the edge of the tub.

  “In the mood for another rub down?” he asked.

  “If you’re offering, sure,” I said.

  Sinking into the suds, I licked my lips as he squeezed the rag out and flicked the soap away. As our lips met, he steadied my back with his free hand as his other fingers and the washcloth disappeared under the water.

  “Then just relax,” he purred. “I have plans for you.”

  “I can’t wait to see what they are.”

  Peter ended the kiss far sooner than I would have wanted, but in place of his lips, he started to wipe my thighs down with tender, careful strokes. I felt precious under the force of his fingers, and my body went limp as he seemed to wash away everything prior to this point. What was a slap in the face and a plane careening towards the ground when his caress consumed me?

  “You slept well,” he said in a sure tone.

  “Long day,” I teased. “And an even longer night.”

  “I watched you dream.”

  Starting to shoot up through the water, Peter pushed me back as he peered into my eyes.

  “Like I could resist,” he continued. “You just looked so sweet. And I… I kind of wondered…”

  “Wondered about what?” I asked as I found his hard hand and submerged it until it touched my thigh.

  “Were you dreaming about me?” he asked.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  He kissed me again, and I started to wind my wet arms around his neck when Peter shook his head and brought his lips to my brow.

  “So let’s say we make your dream come true right now,” he said huskily.

  Peter dropped the washcloth, and I gasped at the feel of his fingers moving inside me. His touch was firm yet gentle as he twisted under my soft, quivering skin. As he started to pull away, I reached under the water for his hand and kept him close enough so that there was little to no space between his thrusts, and as he played with my body, our eyes locked.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” he confessed. “Not with you right there.”

  Feeling guilty that I had given over to the darkness so quickly when he was right there at my side, I started to beg for forgiveness, when he cradled the back of my head and caressed my bruises.

  “But I’m glad you’re awake now,” he whispered. “Because I love looking into your eyes.”

  He fondled my flesh, and I smiled as he claimed my body with his hands. Of course I couldn’t help but want more, and even his smallest touch was something to celebrate. Moaning as I fell deeper into the tub, I dipped under the water and heard nothing, knew nothing but his hand pumping in and out of my body as he cradled my rear and pushed my body closer. I wanted to stay like that, savoring him and knowing nothing else. But when he pulled back, my lungs burned for air. I shot up through the water and…

  “Oh my god!” I gasped.

  His fingers were inside me again, three this time and I clenched around his touch as I dared to grab his back and rest my dripping locks to his shoulder.

  “Don’t let me go,” I moaned. “I want you. Only you.”

  Letting me revel in the feel of his hand for a few more seconds, I shuddered as he left me and resumed wiping me down. Against my flesh, under my skin, there was no part of his touch that was anything but exquisite, and when he finally stood, I felt sure that he would finally drop his pants and join me under the bubbles and take me in the space of the warm water.

  “Peter?”

  To my surprise, he eased my body out of the tub and wrapped a towel around my shoulders.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” he teased. “We’ll get back to brass tacks soon enough. Let me show you off a little first.”

  I had to smile at his show of sweetness, and I moved to the mirror as I started to dry my hair and tie it over my head.

  “I’m looking forward to see what else you have in store,” I grinned at him through the mirror.

  Chapter Six

  With my hair bound over my neck, a few wispy strands drying against my smooth cheeks, I saw Peter watching as I slipped into the thong and the bra. I turned to admire myself in the mirror, and looked self-consciously at the reality of my bruises, as he moved back to the bed and picked through one of two boxes that I had yet to dig into.

  “Concealer or whatever,” Peter said. “I thought you might…”

  I snatched the compact, still bound in plastic and cardboard from his hand.

  “You think of everything, don’t you?” I said.

  I looked into his face and I could see the tenderness there.

  “Will it work?” he asked.

  “I’m sure that anything you bought will do just fine,” I said as I looked through the rest of the box. “I think it will be just perfect.”

  I moved back to the bath, and Peter followed. As the suds drained away from the tub, he sat on the edge and watched me hide the bruises before painting my eyes and intensifying the color of my lips. As soon as I turned back to face him, he smiled into my eyes and nodded his approval at the vision meeting his line of sight.

  “Now that’s perfect,” he said. “You know…”

  He stepped closer, his fingers running down my smooth sides.

  “Maybe you were right,” Peter whispered. “Maybe we should stay hidden and spend the day in bed. I could always call on Morgan if there was anything we needed that wasn’t in this set of rooms.”

  I started to relent when suddenly I shifted my stance and tossed my head back.

  “But you went to all this trouble,” I teased. “And now I think I could do with a day on the town. Are you going to take that away from me?”

  “Not a chance,” he said. But I could see the thoughts flickering across his face as he fought to calm his breath and his need to take me back into his arms and know what it was to feel me writhing and hear me moaning in between the moments when he kissed my lips and felt my smile burning into his soul.

  “Then I better get dressed,” I said.

  I patted his cheek and stepped into the selected clothing. As soon as I had the shoes on my feet, I flashed him a soft smile and bowed my head.

  “It might be nice to just have a day with you,” I whispered as I stroked his chest through his shirt. “It’s like the only thing we haven’t done yet.”

  Peter looked at me and drew me close. I could see that he was contemplating my words and trying to decide if he wanted to leave this room or rip the clothes off me again. His eyes roamed up and down my body and I almost gave in as I moved my fingers to the buttons of my blouse.

  “Okay,” he said as he kissed my brow and folded me into his arms. “I mean, like you said, I did go to all this trouble…”

  I tickled his sides, and Peter laughed at my touch as I trailed my hand down his arm and seized his hand.

  “And we’ll have something to look forward to later…” I said. “But right now, let’s see where we are.”

  “Virginia, Gypsy,” he said.

  “I already know that much!” she squealed. “But what’s beyond the door?”

  Peter offered me his arm, and I took hold of it happily.

&nbs
p; “Fair enough,” Peter said. “I’m going to give you the perfect day.”

  Strolling down the street, I felt the leaves moving in the breeze as friendly citizens smiled and nodded and simply kept going on their way. I skipped a few inches ahead of Peter, but he kept my hand in his as I twirled before him.

  “It’s kind of charming, isn’t it?” I said. “What’s it called?”

  “Harrison,” he said. “Figured that much out in the shops.”

  Harrison, Virginia. A place that I’d never heard of before. And without Peter, a place that I would never want to know again.

  As I twirled before him, little did I know that Peter was mulling over what had happened the day before.

  Why had the plane failed, when everything was checked down to the last letter? He had checked it himself. Maybe it was just a freak thing; but he worried that maybe it was something more. But he knew that he would deal with that thing in good time. They knew by now that he was out. He’d paid off the right people and the response he’d had in no uncertain terms had proven that there was no loyalty in this kind of business. And although they had said they’d cut him loose, Peter wasn’t foolish enough to know that that didn’t mean that they still wouldn’t try…

  “Peter, come on!” I cried. “Let’s see what’s in here!”

  I drew him into the corner of a dusty shop. The place was littered with knickknacks; a lamp here, a coffee service there, everything that anyone might ever want if they were preparing to set up house and make a go of it. Some of that sounded good to me. But we were still visitors. No point in decorating a room that we would only leave in a few days before having to return to reality.

  “Peter! Look!” I cried.

  My fingers surrounded a letter opener with a brass handle. The thing was jeweled at the stem, and I peered at the implement before looking back to Peter.

  “Isn’t it lovely?” I asked. “I wish… I wish that I could give it to you.”

  “You can,” he assured me as he pressed me close to his side and kissed my drying hair.

  “Don’t be silly. Morgan didn’t recuse my wallet. And even if he had I can’t use my cards and I’m almost out of cash. Daddy has seen to that!”

  “I could loan you the cash,” Peter offered. “When we’re home, you can…”

  “You’d like that,” I purred. “Me indebted to you.”

  “Thought that was kind of a foregone,” Peter replied.

  I finally relented, and as Peter tried to press a series of crisp bills into my hands, I shook my head and kissed his cheek.

  “I’d prefer to barter,” I said with a wink. “Wait here.”

  I moved to the register, the letter opener still in my hand and I pulled my mother’s bracelet from my pocket and showed it to the shop keeper. I glanced across at Peter and when he saw what I was about to do he rushed to my side and pulled me away from the counter, ignoring my pleas to let me pay for the gift.

  “Peter, I… I know what I’m doing,” I insisted. “My… my father would have kept this buried in a box where it could do my mother’s soul no good. At least… at least this way, she can know that I’m using it for some good.”

  Peter started to kiss me, and I wanted nothing more than for him to take me into his arms and fall to the floor. But he stepped forward and even as I protested, he paid for the bejeweled piece with his own money.

  “I told you that I wanted to…”

  “And you should keep your mother’s gold close,” Peter said. “In case you ever need it for something more than me.”

  Peter dragged me from the shop and we found a bench in the tranquility of a small park. Birds chirped and boys tossed Frisbees back and forth as I focused on my new shoes and failed to meet his eyes.

  “Look, it… it was a sweet thought,” Peter said. “But I couldn’t let you…”

  “Even now?” she challenged, her eyes alive with anger. “I’m strong, Peter. Don’t you see that? Why can no one…?”

  “Danny gets it,” Peter said. “It’s all over his canvas.”

  Peter tied to curl me closer, but I pushed him away even as his hand was in mine.

  “But I’m the real thing,” I whispered. “And I wanted to buy it for you myself. Why can’t you just accept that, accept me for what I am?”

  Peter took my chin in his hands and stared at me hard.

  “My Gypsy,” he said gently. “You’re everything. Don’t you know that by now?”

  When I failed to nod, he kissed me quickly and let the edge of the mutual gift drift up my thighs. The flat edge was pressed to my skin and I sighed when our eyes locked again.

  “Sort of feels that way,” I confessed. “But show me again.”

  Ignoring the park and the people constantly crossing our path, Peter took me into his arms and kissed me deeply. I moaned against his mouth, and he pressed his fingers into my back as I moved to his lap, and he pushed my body to the bench. My blonde hair came loose and fell before my eyes. I brushed it back and Peter kissed my eyes, and I knew that he was thinking of nothing more than taking me out in the open. And the thought passed through my mind that I could be his Lady Godiva and shock the spectators into total submission. Let them see what it was to catch sight of a man and a woman savoring each other’s flesh so that they’d have something to write home about and aspire to. Peter’s hands were nearly up my skirt when he saw a gaggle of boys leering. Something in their collective stare made him stop and I shot up as he stared the group down.

  “She’s not a spectator sport,” Peter cried.

  And the boys laughed.

  “You sure were riding her hard,” the largest one teased. “Care to share the wealth?”

  I could sense that Peter was ready to smash his skull with both of his hands when I caught hold of the letter opener and pushed my fingers to the sharp tip, seemingly unafraid of the possibility of drawing any blood.

  “Join in the fun,” I said to them. “Bet you’d like to see what I could with this.”

  I playfully pushed the dagger in their direction, and as soon as the boys turned on their heels and raced away, Peter turned me back to his chest and simply studied my face.

  “You really are something else,” he whispered.

  “Guess you bring out the best in me,” I said with a grin.

  Peter kissed me quickly, and then I turned my attention to my grumbling stomach.

  “Lunch?” I asked.

  Peter nodded and we stood up. I stretched to the tips of my toes, my mouth lingering in front of his as I whispered, “Don’t hate me for looking out for you. Can’t we… can’t we help each other?”

  I caressed his thighs, and curled closer to his body as I breathed into his mouth and spoke softly.

  “You and me,” I said. “We… we had to have survived for something more than this moment. Peter, I… I think that I…”

  Peter cut me off by claiming my mouth for his own. I sensed that he knew what I wanted to say but in this moment, he didn’t want anything too deep. He pressed my body against his and grabbed my arms, leaving me no choice but to leave the words unsaid.

  “Lunch sounds good to me,” he said.

  I smiled and took his hand. We moved through the small park, a row of restaurants just beyond our view and I curled my arm through his and smiled up into his face.

  Peter wasn’t looking at me but his attention was taken by a small man with a thin mustache who peered at us from over a newspaper. He looked to be old school and somehow suspicious, even in a place as off the beaten path as Harrison, Virginia. I shrugged off the thought that he looked somehow out of place here and I nuzzled my nose into Peter’s neck and kissed his skin. But I could sense that Peter was on edge.

  But then I heard footsteps on the gravel starting closer to our side, and Peter whirled around to face the would-be stalker.

  “You got a problem?” h challenged as he pressed me behind him and glared at the man hard.

  “Peter, what do you think you’re doing?” I asked.r />
  “Because we’re not looking for any company,” Peter continued. “So what’s say you turn around and don’t even think about looking at…”

  “So sorry to intrude,” the little guy said with a conciliatory sigh. “But it looks like your lady lost something.”

  Peter’s jaw was still tense as the man offered over a gold bracelet of symmetrical squares.

  “Oh!” I gasped. “Thank you.”

  I took the gold in my hands and smiled at the small man.

  “This was my mother’s,” I whispered fingering the gold squares.

  The man bowed and accepted my thanks, sneering at Peter before he took off with a mocking laugh. I dangled the gold in front of Peter eyes, my smile brighter than anything shining between my fingers. But the look on Peter’s face was still thunderous.

  “Care to help me with this?” I asked.

  Peter stayed silent as he strapped the bracelet back in a place, and his hand stayed on mine as he drew me close and moaned into my hair.

  “Sorry,” he said. “But I… I don’t like anyone else looking at you.”

  Peter looked contrite so I just laughed and kissed his brow, unaware that his thoughts were focused on the secret that he hoped I would never discover.

  “Sort of sweet,” I said. “In an unfrozen caveman kind of way.”

  Peter matched my laughter with his own as he took my hand and headed towards the row of restaurants.

  “I think we need to eat,” he said.

  Chapter Seven

  “Order anything you like,” Peter said.

  The bistro was beyond quaint with mismatched glasses and cracked dishes. As I scanned the menu, I saw Peter trying to settle back into his own skin. He fidgeted with the menu and stared at me hard over the edge of the leather. Staying in his gaze, I caught wind of his hope for the future. But the scene in the park had scared him. The boys were losers, the little man was harmless, and yet I had to wonder where his mind had wandered. When he received a pitcher of water without even asking for it, Peter flung the menu aside and stared straight ahead. I could see the nerve in the side of his cheek twitching as he fought to suppress his anger.