Arden (Undercover Billionaire Book 2)

by Melody Anne

  “I need you, Arden,” she said, her voice scratchy, wanton.

  “You have me,” he promised. In so many more ways than one. “We need a bed.”

  He lifted her, his arm beneath the curve of her ass, as he held her leg with the other. She let out a giggle at the position as he began moving down the hallway. He’d been fantasizing about her in his bed again for too long.

  He made it to his room, then pressed her against the wall again, unable to go a single step farther without tasting her sweet lips. As she pulled up her other leg, the dress gave out as she wrapped herself around him, her hot core pressed against him.

  Dammit! There should be no clothes between them. If he could let go of her for a few seconds, he could remedy that. But even a few seconds was too long in his heightened state.

  Keera let out a cry of pleasure as he ran his fingers up her sides, squeezing her luscious breasts. Her nipples pebbled in his palms, and he needed to taste them.

  With more effort than he thought he was capable of in that moment, he moved away from the wall, walking to the bed without his lips leaving hers. Only when he felt the mattress against his legs did he lower her, his body immediately aching when she wasn’t pressed up against him.

  But it was almost worth it to take a step back, to see the flush of her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes, the tangle of her hair.

  “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on,” he said, filled with awe.

  “Oh, Arden,” she said, her arms stretching out to him.

  He wanted nothing more than to rip their clothes away and sink deep within her folds. But he also needed to touch and taste every inch of her. He needed to claim her, for her to be his from this night until forever.

  He knelt next to the bed, and she whimpered until he took her delicate feet in his large hands and undid the clasps of her sexy-as-hell shoes. He pulled them off and kissed the tops of her feet as he squeezed them. She lay back and moaned.

  He ran his hands up her calves, kneading them, appreciating the firmness of her body, how every square inch of her turned him on. He ran his tongue along the inside of her thighs, pushing them apart as he took his time tasting her, appreciating her, building her pleasure to nearly unbearable heights.

  He reached the top of her legs, and only a tiny wisp of lace was keeping him from touching her. Easily, he slipped his fingers beneath it and flicked them across her tender flesh, making her scream out his name as her hips arched off the bed.

  “You are so damn responsive,” he said as he slid his fingers inside her, her core hot and wet and ready.

  He needed to see what he was touching, so he pulled from her, making her whimper her displeasure at the loss of his touch. But he reached to her side and found the zipper on the dress, pulling it down, and finally freeing the material.

  He tugged the dress away, nearly going insane when he found she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her breasts came free, her nipples hard, her chest heaving. With the slightest of tugs, her panties were gone, and there she was before him—beautiful, hot, and waiting.

  He leaned back down and ran his tongue across her slick opening. She arched again as her fingers fisted in the blankets. He pushed open her thighs and didn’t hold back as he devoured her, running his tongue across every sensitive millimeter of her, circling his lips over her swollen clit and sucking until she begged for mercy.

  He flicked his tongue across her flesh again and again, and when he slid his fingers inside her, she screamed, this time her body coming undone as she squeezed him, her orgasm taking her away on a perfect escape.

  “More,” she groaned, her body still gripping his fingers. “I want you, all of you,” she said, her words barely distinguishable.

  “Yes, Keera, more,” he said.

  He climbed up her body, finally getting to taste her ripe nipples, licking and sucking them as she wrapped her legs around his waist and pushed upward, moaning her frustration at the barrier of his clothes preventing them from becoming one.

  “Please, take me, please,” she said as he sucked hard on her nipple.

  “Yes,” he agreed. She reluctantly released him, and he tore his clothes away, then grabbed a condom and rolled it on before he was finally lying against her with nothing to keep them apart.

  As soon as her legs were wrapped around him, as soon as his thickness was resting against the safety of her hot folds, the urgency that had filled him dimmed. He was right where he needed to be, and it gave him a sense of peace.

  He gently rocked his hips, rubbing against the outside of her, against her throbbing flesh, as he savored this moment. He didn’t want this night to ever end. Only when she opened her passion-filled eyes did he finally begin to sink inside her, slowly, surely, fully.

  “Oh yes, yes, yes,” Keera said as her legs clasped him tightly and her fingers clutched the back of his head. “Don’t ever stop, Arden, never,” she begged.

  He knew exactly how she felt. “I’ll make love to you all night,” he said, knowing he could be happy doing nothing more than lying in her arms day and night.

  He moved slowly in and out of her, but soon the need was too great. She squirmed beneath him, and his body throbbed. He needed to give her another release, and take one for himself.

  They’d make love all night, but some of this hunger had to abate first or they were both going up in flames. With a fierce cry, he grabbed her hips and slammed inside her, making her eyes snap back open as she looked at him in awed delight.

  “Yes!” she encouraged, her fingernails digging into his shoulders as she trembled beneath him. He moved faster, nearly pulling out of her before hammering back down, over and over again, the room filled with cries of their pleasure and the slapping of their skin hitting together.

  With a shudder, Keera’s body tensed as she leaned against his shoulder, her teeth biting down on him, her core squeezing his erection harder with each contraction.

  He let go, pushing deep inside her as his own release overtook him, fire and ice tingling through his body as he swelled within her, throbbing with the force of his release.

  When they both stopped shaking, he collapsed on top of her, not willing to pull from her tight body, not willing to let this connection between the two of them end. The first time they’d made love had been amazing; this time it had been otherworldly.

  “You’re mine, Keera,” he said against the soft, damp skin of her neck.

  “I’m yours,” she said, her voice sated, her body clinging to his just as much as he was holding on to her.

  They might have lain that way for seconds, minutes, or hours. Arden didn’t know. But soon she began moving her hips—small, gentle thrusts as her lips trailed their way across his neck. Yes, it was time for more. It would always be time for more. She was his, and he would show her exactly what that meant.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Sitting back with a beer, Arden wondered if life got much better than this. Sure, he still had his brother on his ass as he tried figuring out what in the hell was going on with their town. And sure, nothing had been solved. But Arden was having a difficult time caring about that.

  He’d fallen in love. It was odd, really. It was something he’d never thought about before. It wasn’t that he was anti-love. He just hadn’t been in a hurry to seek the perfect soul mate. When Kian had settled down, it had stirred things within Arden, but still, he hadn’t been in a hurry.

  His parents had always shared a beautiful relationship. Sure, they argued, but never over anything insurmountable. He’d had great role models to look up to. Even with all of that, it didn’t matter until you ran into that person you knew you couldn’t live your life without.

  Arden had found that. And he wasn’t willing to let it go. They’d get the situation at the school figured out, and if it did have anything to do with Keera, he’d damn sure find out who was after her, and he’d protect her.

  That made him smile, because he loved how strong Keera was. She had far surpassed what most
people could live through without a heck of a lot of handouts, and the worst she could say about herself was she had a hard time trusting. He’d give her all the time she needed to see he wasn’t like her father. He was with her because he couldn’t live without her, because when he looked at her, he saw the person his soul meshed with. He loved her. It truly was that simple and beautiful.

  When his phone rang, he thought about ignoring it. But it could be Keera, so he didn’t bother with the caller ID before picking it up. He took another sip of beer.

  “Arden here,” he said as a greeting.

  There was a pause on the other end of the line, and still it took a moment for Arden to grow suspicious. It was the sound of heavy breathing that set his teeth to grinding together and made him sit up and pay attention. Whoever was daring to shatter his perfectly great mood would indeed pay the price.

  “Is Keera Thompson important to you?” the voice asked.

  “Who is this?” Arden demanded.

  “Who I am doesn’t matter,” the person said before Arden could tell the mouthpiece had been covered. He heard the distant sound of coughing coming from the other end of the line, and he waited impatiently. He needed to know who this was.

  “What do you want?” Arden asked.

  “Some people want her dead and will go to any lengths to make that happen.”

  “And why is that?” Arden asked.

  “Because she’s uncovering things that should have remained buried. She will pay the price for that. She has a contract out on her,” the person warned.

  “If you’re going to make threats, I assume you have evidence,” Arden said.

  “I’m not the one after her. I just happen to know who that person is,” the man said. The phone was covered as the coughing started again. If Arden could keep him on the phone long enough, maybe he’d figure out who it was.

  “If it’s not you, who plans on killing her?” Arden asked, bile rising in his throat as he asked the question. “Give me a name!”

  “It’s the VP, and this is so much more involved than you could ever comprehend,” the man said.

  Shock ran through Arden. There wasn’t a chance it could be Ethan. No, Arden didn’t like the man, had never liked him, but the weasel wasn’t capable of going to this much trouble to harass Keera. And besides that, he seemed to genuinely like Keera. What in the world would be the point of him trying to hurt her?

  “You have to be mistaken,” Arden said.

  “If you ignore this, you’re responsible for what happens next,” the man told him. Arden’s gut clenched.

  “Can you meet with me?” Arden asked. “I won’t give up your identity.”

  “No. I did what I needed to do. I told you what was going down. Now, it’s up to you to keep her safe. She has demons from her past that are knocking at her door, and things have come full circle. Ethan isn’t a good man.”

  “What is he going to do?” Arden asked.

  There was a pause. “He hired a hit man, paid that person a lot of money,” the man said.

  “I need—” The phone line went dead. Arden wasn’t getting any further information from this person.

  He wanted to think this was a prank call, that the person was doing nothing more than trying to scare Arden. But in his gut he knew the man was speaking the truth. There was something deeper going on here, and Arden didn’t know what it was, but he did know that somehow Keera had gotten in the middle of it.

  And whoever she’d unknowingly gotten involved with wanted her out of their way. Whoever that was hadn’t counted on Arden to be at her side. Yes, Keera was strong, but no one should go through something like this on their own.

  It was time for him and Ethan to have a little chat. He needed to give Keera the respect of telling her first, and he wasn’t going to do it over the phone. He ran out to his vehicle, grateful he’d only gotten about a quarter of a beer down before the person had called.

  He dialed Declan as he made his way to Keera. The only reason he wasn’t panicked right now was because she was having an afternoon with his sister and Roxie, and she was just as safe at his brother’s house as she would be with him. But still, even knowing that, he pressed his foot down on the accelerator. He needed to get to her, needed to have her at his side where he knew no one could touch her.

  He was going to kill Ethan with his bare hands if the man harmed so much as one hair on her head. The little weasel had some major explaining to do, and Arden was going to get to the bottom of it—much sooner rather than later.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Arden felt like the worst kind of person as Keera stared at him, her face white, her eyes rounded in shock. He’d just delivered the most devastating news he could possibly give to another person, and instead of keeping her safe, he felt as if he was the one hurting her the most.

  “Keera, I’m sorry,” he said, reaching for her. She backed away, and it killed him not to chase after her, not to comfort her. Declan stood back with Kian while analyzing everything, but still allowing Arden to be the one to tell her.

  There was no way Arden would have let Declan tell her. He would have done it in a very black-and-white way that might have sent her over the edge. First her office had been broken into, then she’d been left threatening letters, then her apartment had been trashed, and now she was hearing that someone was actually trying to have her killed.

  She was holding up much better than most people would in her situation.

  “I think this person is lying,” Keera finally said. There were no tears. She sounded upset, but more irritated than frightened.

  “I know people, Keera, and my gut tells me this person is telling the truth,” Arden told her.

  “You don’t like Ethan so of course you want to think the worst of him,” she said, hurting Arden, though he was trying not to let it.

  “This isn’t about me liking the man or not. This is about the things that have been happening to you and the school,” he said, his tone calm.

  “There’s no reason for Ethan to want to hurt me. I’ve never done anything to him. This doesn’t make sense. Can’t you see that?” she asked, her voice now pleading. Arden looked over to his brothers, silently seeking their advice. They shrugged. Neither of them knew what to say. They were leaving him on his own.

  “I know it doesn’t make sense to you, as you don’t know the man as well as you think you do, but he’s a weasel, and I think this is a lot more complicated than you can imagine. I think somehow you’ve triggered him,” Arden said, making her wince.

  “You don’t even know who this person was who called you. He could be some kid with a voice disguiser who’s sitting back getting high, having a hoot. It could be a student who got in trouble. We can’t just assume Ethan’s guilty. I’ve never felt he’d do something to hurt me—not once,” Keera said.

  Her passionate words were making him stop to think. She could be right. He didn’t believe she was, but what she said made sense.

  “Yes, of course there’s a chance the caller wasn’t being honest with me, but I’m not willing to risk your safety to find out,” Arden said.

  She stopped and stared at him, her arms crossed, her breathing heavy. He didn’t break eye contact, didn’t back down. She might not be worried about her safety, but he damn well was, and he’d protect her whether she was asking for it or not.

  “You obviously told Declan about this first since he’s here,” she said, the words firing at him like bullets. He was glad he had, because she might have convinced him to wait, and he didn’t want to wait. He had a good feeling Ethan was guilty. Some people deserved to be innocent until proven guilty—some didn’t. “Did you call the cops?”

  “No,” he told her. “I came straight to you, only calling Declan.” He was glad for that as her shoulders eased, that was, until she turned to stare at Declan.

  “Did you report this?” she asked. Arden was a bit shocked when he noticed his brother shift on his feet. Keera’s schoolteacher voice was even mak
ing his tough-as-nails brother feel chastised.

  “Not yet, but I intend to,” he told her.

  “I’m brand new here,” Keera said, pleading with both of them to understand. “I seriously don’t need to get off on the wrong foot with my VP by accusing him of trying to kill me. Let me talk to him,” she said.

  Both Arden and Declan were now the ones crossing their arms as they looked at her as they would a pouting child. Arden didn’t want to make this situation worse, and he hoped she wouldn’t notice.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be anywhere near him right now,” Arden said, trying not to show his frustration.

  “Please,” she said, and he felt his resolve shaking. It was difficult for him to deny her something she truly wanted. However, her safety was on the line, and he had to stay firm for her sake.

  “How about a compromise?” he asked, ignoring the grumbling coming from the corner where his brothers stood. Declan would understand if he ever allowed himself to fall in love. “We all go to his house and have a chat before we call the cops.”

  She looked as if she wanted to say no to this, but then her shoulders sagged, her eyes so damn sad it broke his heart. “Okay. No cops,” she said, the words coming out like a plea, but also firm.

  “This isn’t a good idea, Arden,” Declan said. They both turned to look at him. Kian seemed a lot more amenable to it. Of course, Kian was married and knew what it was like to compromise.

  “Well, good or bad idea, it’s happening,” Arden said.

  “At least let me get a warrant,” Declan told him.

  “That would involve cops,” Keera said.

  “I can do it without a black-and-white coming,” Declan said. “Let’s have it in hand just in case.” Arden knew when his brother wasn’t going to back down. He nodded. Keera sighed, obviously coming to the same conclusion.

  “I don’t think we’ll need it,” she said. But that was the last of her argument.