His Surprise Daughter : A BWWM Billionaire Romance

by Tiana Cole

  Tears came fast and hard, making Zara happy she was already seated. “I can’t believe it. I was so sure something would happen at the last minute but it didn’t. This is really happening.”

  Leaning back with that lazy smile, he wrapped his mouth around the lip of the mug and sipped. “It is.”

  She would regret her actions later but in the moment she was so happy, so grateful, that she stood and flung her arms around him. And wept all over him. “I just don’t know what to say, Caine. Thank you for saving our girl.”

  He rubbed her back gently and she pulled back to smile at him. “I would do anything for her, and you. If you’d let me.” Then he was kissing her, molding his lips to hers and stirring a passion in her that only he had ever been able to.

  She let him kiss her, not in gratitude but because the man’s mouth was an intoxicating weapon and he wielded it with expert precision, taking her to the brink before letting up and driving her insane. She moaned into his mouth, speared his hair with her hand and deepened the kiss until he growled. Zara pulled back and sucked in a breath. “That got out of control real quick,” she said with a laugh.

  Squeezing her butt and pulled her down onto him, Caine smiled back. “You make me forget myself.”

  “Me too.” She pulled back. “You should make a list.”

  He gave her a knowing smile, which she ignored. Yeah, she was changing the subject, but she was a woman and she had every right to do so. “I should go get Cassia.”

  “Yep. That too.”

  “But first…” He stood and pressed her against the counter until she bent backwards over it and gave her a hungry kiss that had nearly turned her to mush. She clawed at him, wrapped her legs around his waist and pretty much attacked him. God, his mouth was so sweet, so hot and so darn soothing she didn’t know what to do with the conflicting emotions roiling through her. Push him away or strip him down? Fight it or succumb to the passion between them?

  Caine pulled back, smacking a kiss just behind her ear, drawing a shiver from her. “I want you, Zara, but the next time I have you it’ll be because you want it too.” Then he was gone.

  Chapter 14

  “This is delicious!” Cassia dipped a strip of crab leg into the clarified butter and licked her fingers like the child she was.

  Caine smiled at the way she took childish enjoyment in everything from breaking open crab legs to choosing a lobster. Being a father wasn’t easy, as he’d learned over the past few weeks, but it was so damn rewarding. Every smile felt like it was just for him. Not just that, but he also felt lighter than he had ever felt before. “I told you. The butter is the best part.”

  “Even if it will clog your arteries,” Zara added grumpily but with an affectionate smile.

  The fact that she had come along on their fancy date gave him hope that all was not lost between them. There hadn’t been anything physical since he’d bent her over the counter and kissed her until he’d needed a cold shower to bring him back to normal. But they had talked, a lot, and while it killed him, Caine knew this was the way back to her heart. “One night won’t clog your arteries. Go on, taste it,” he prodded, holding up the flaky white chunks for her to eat.

  Leaning forward to pull the meat off his fingers, her tongue wrapped around his fingertips and sucked. “Totally worth the heartache.”

  Caine thought those words held a deeper meaning but now wasn’t the time to get into it. “Told you, didn’t I, Cassia?”

  She nodded and ate some more with no regard to where the butter landed. “Dad did say, Mommy.” Cassia spoke with the knowledge of a world class expert even with her face smeared in butter.

  He laughed and enjoyed the evening, relaxed with his girls. They shared three different desserts, passing them around the table until they were all satisfied. Full. “Does anyone want anything else?”

  Zara shook her head, so did Cassia with an added tummy rub. “I’m stuffed, Dad. Thank you for dinner. And dessert, that was my favorite.” She beamed him a smile.

  “My pleasure. And I was right, you look beautiful in that dress. Like a little princess.”

  She preened under his compliments. “Mommy did my hair.” The little cinnamon ringlets were so adorable he’d taken a photo earlier and saved it to his phone.

  “She did a really good job.” He smiled at Zara, who’d been pretty quiet all evening, but she looked stunning. The white sweater dress she wore hugged her body magnificently. It made his mouth water for another taste of her. He hadn’t had nearly enough of her. He never would, he realized. “Are we ready to go?”

  Cassia yawned in answer and he helped her into her coat while Zara wiped her face. In that moment, they were a family. A real family, mom and dad working together to get baby home safe. Helping Zara into her jacket, Caine turned back to Cassia, scooped her into his arms and guided them out of the restaurant.

  “I’ll get her settled,” he told Zara once they were inside again. He’d been helping her get ready for bed for a few days and he knew her bedtime routine. Even asleep she weighed next to nothing and he was easily able to get her into pajamas and under the blankets. “Good night, kiddo. Love you.”

  “Love you too, Daddy,” she groaned as she drifted off to sleep.

  With a huge smile, Caine went in search of Zara, hoping she hadn’t already decided to turn in. Since he now had a key, she didn’t always worry if he was still with Cassia or not. “Zee,” he called out in a whisper.

  “In here,” she called from behind him, and Caine frowned. She was either in her bedroom or her office, both were odd choices considering the time of night and, well, the obvious.

  Caine pushed opened the bedroom door and let out a deep growl at the sight that met him. Zara sprawled on the bed in sexy white lace, surrounded by candlelight and soft music, a flirty smile on her face. “Zara, baby,” he rasped out, still stuck in the doorway, unready, or maybe unwilling, to believe that this was happening again. That she was coming to him this time.

  Instead of speaking, she rolled over onto her stomach, revealing round brown cheeks bisected with white lace. Arching her back while black braids cascaded around her body, she was a vision of sensuality. A feast for his eyes. His body. “Caine,” she moaned, and turned over, waving him closer with her finger. “I want you. You told me next time would be because I want you, well, I do. Badly.”

  Kicking the door closed, he closed the distance between them and tugged on her ankle until her legs hung off the bed. His hands slid up and down her thighs, enjoying how smooth and soft they were. Caine slipped a hand between her thighs and groaned as damp folds wrapped around his fingers. “You’re so wet, Zee.”

  “For you, Caine. Only for you.”

  Those words made something in him snap and his mouth was on her, assaulting and teasing her until loud cries and screams ripped from her throat. From the top of her head to the tip of her toes, no inch of her body was left untouched by his mouth. No space unloved. Shaking under him as her orgasm washed over her, Zara pushed his chest away and said two words that always sounded hot during sex.

  “My turn.”

  ~

  She was hungry for Caine. For his long, lean body. His mouth. All of him. Zara didn’t know if she was fooling herself into thinking they were a family and thereby giving her permission to take another night for herself, or if she was just being greedy. But once she had him naked and his erection in her hand, she knew it was a mixture of both. But staring at the thick, throbbing, leaking hard-on in her hand, the hunger won out.

  “Zee,” Caine cried over and over as her tongue brushed across his dick, back and forth, up and down until his thigh muscles strained under the force of his orgasm. She took him deep, enjoying the way his strong hands tugged on her braids until her scalp stung.

  His taste was heady, musky and masculine, and she couldn’t get enough of him. She pulled back and gave the rest of him the proper amount of attention, enjoying the way he was so close to exploding but tried to rein it in.

&n
bsp; “Zara,” he groaned again, tugging even harder on her hair until she cried out. Tossing her on her back, he climbed up her body, kissing her between the legs, on each nipple and her mouth. God, the way he loved her mouth! She was so gone over the kiss she’d barely registered that he was poised at her entrance.

  “Caine, please, I need you. Please,” she begged. “Yes,” she cried out when he slammed into her. His brand of loving was addictive and she was already carried away by his long, deep strokes that seemed to touch every part of her. “Yes,” she moaned as though it was her favorite word on earth, turning it into a song as he sent her up, up and over that edge of bliss. Grabbing her breasts and holding them up for his mouth, she stifled a cry when he pulled a dark tipped nipple in his mouth and sucked hard. “Caine, fuck…yeah.”

  It was as though a switch was flipped inside him at her moaned words, because he grabbed her thighs, pushing them apart and deepening his strokes until she was moving up that cliff again. “Zara,” he groaned, and she met those forest green eyes, so dark and hazy with desire.

  She loved this man and she wanted every night to be like this. Wanted to fall asleep with her body wrapped around his, to kiss his sweet mouth every night before bed and every morning before they left for the day. She wanted it all. The fairytale that included brothers and sisters for Cassia. Oh god, no! “Oh god, yes!” Caine covered her mouth, swallowing her moans while she rode out her orgasm through his long, drugging strokes. Faster and deeper he went until he erupted inside her and her orgasm flooded the bed between them.

  Caine collapsed on top of her, sucking in deep lungfuls of air while crushing her to the bed. She didn’t mind, in fact Zara luxuriated in his weight. Resting on his elbows, Caine looked down at her with a sleepy smile on his face. “Zara, I love you.”

  Oh crap.

  ~

  Caine lay on his back, staring at the slice of ceiling lit up by the moon after another round of lovemaking. He was still in love with Zara. Well, he was madly in love with this new, stronger, beautiful and intelligent version of the girl he’d loved in another life. He’d told her as much, and even though it punctuated the most intense sexual encounter of his life, he’d meant every word.

  Too bad Zara hadn’t said it back. She looked terrified but Caine knew better. Looking behind the fear in those cocoa eyes he saw her heart and he knew she loved him too. But he couldn’t trust what he saw in her eyes until he heard the words. He needed to hear her tell him that she loved him. That she wanted to be with him.

  “My goodness, you’re thinking so loud you woke me up,” Zara grumbled, head half buried in the pillow.

  He was yanked from his thoughts by her words and the smack to his midsection. “How did you know?”

  Zara propped her head up on hands and looked at him. “Your tension must have infected me and woke me up. What’s wrong, Caine?”

  The question sounded like she was genuinely concerned and not just trying to calm him down so she could get back to sleep. He blew out a breath. “I’m in love with you.”

  “How horrible for you.”

  He heard the amusement in her voice and couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face. “Not like that.” He blew out a breath in frustration. Sharing his feelings wasn’t something Caine was used to. Not only was he not from a family of sharing and caring, but he wasn’t a very emotional man either. Saying ‘I love you’ had been the biggest declaration of his life. And she hadn’t said it back.

  “But you’re worried because I didn’t say it back?”

  He nodded but couldn’t look at her. What kind of pansy ass was he to admit such a thing, even if he technically admitted nothing? “I can’t force you to love me back.”

  Zara sighed and pushed on his chest to sit up. Looking down at him affectionately, she tossed a leg over his body and sat on his legs. Her naked heat cradled his hardness. “You don’t have to force me, Caine.”

  Close. He stared up at her, willing her to say the words.

  She gave him a smile that told him she knew exactly what he was doing. “I do, have since I was seventeen years old.” Then she was gone, her gaze glazed over and she was someplace else. Someplace far away from this present date and time.

  If Caine were a betting man, he’d say she was thinking about the past. Specifically, their shared past. If she was reliving memories during the happiest month of his life, he might still have a shot. But if her mind wandered to the pregnant, rejected and alone portion of the past, he might as well pack up and say goodbye now. She looked lost and he hated it. Determined to bring her back to him, Caine slid his hands up and down her thighs until she blinked and looked down at him. “Memory lane?”

  Her nod brought several braids falling around her shoulders, and to Caine, she had never looked more beautiful, naked and gorgeous perched on his lap with a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “Yep. The good parts.”

  Relief washed over him and he began to swell and harden under her. “They were really good parts, weren’t they, Zee?”

  “I’d never been so happy in all my life. I probably fell in love with the that first day on the mountain, that charming smile talking about how you loved kids. I never stood a chance.”

  That warm smile did things to his insides and he gripped her thighs tighter. He liked hearing about how she’d felt back then. “Neither did I. My only hope had been to stay out of trouble but you came along all sweet and inquisitive. And you got me. No one had ever gotten me like that and I just wanted to be with you, around you. I was addicted to you.” He could barely go an hour without seeing her or hearing that sweet voice with sensual, husky notes. Not one day had passed during that month that he hadn’t found a way to see her. To taste her mouth. “I was in no hurry to make love to you because in my heart I knew we had forever.”

  She smiled. “I wanted to so badly, and I had no idea how to make you want to.”

  He remembered her efforts very well. Sexy underwear and cleavage. Lots and lots of cleavage. And kissing. “You finally found the one thing I could never resist. Your mouth.” Licking her lips in an unconscious gesture, Caine knew she was thinking of that night too.

  “I was so nervous and worried you’d push me away.”

  “Never.” One hand glided up her belly, cupping her breast and making her hips roll.

  She reached behind her and cupped his balls, pulling a groan from deep in his chest. “Once I heard you moaning and pulling my hair, my confidence grew. I loved hearing that sound, learning how you liked it.” She sighed, gliding her wet folds up and down his shaft. “I thought I’d have more time to learn it all.”

  “Me too.” The silence between them grew for several long moments as they both thought about that night and the broken dreams it had inspired. “I would give everything in this world except Cassia to change how it turned out, Zara.”

  “I know,” she whispered softly, a hint of agony in her voice. She lifted up on her knees and lowered herself onto his hardness, drawing a groan from him. “I do love you, and me not saying it isn’t me doubting how genuine you are.” She moaned the last word as his hips began to move.

  “Zara.”

  “Caine, I need you to listen to me.”

  He groaned and stopped his hips, but she continued the little circles designed to drive him crazy. “I’m listening,” he bit out, hands still gripping her hips tight. Her small waist and those lush hips under his fingertips felt like heaven, but those blackberry tipped breasts made his mouth water. Large teardrop-shaped breasts he wanted to spend the rest of his life licking, sucking, biting. Making her come just by loving her breasts.

  “Caine,” she said more forcefully, her inner muscles gripping him tight, drawing to mind an old nanny who loved to pull on his ear. “Are you listening?”

  His eyes were closed tight, trying to concentrate on her voice. “You’re making it very hard to listen right now. Very hard, Zee.”

  “Fine.” Disappointment flickered in her eyes momentarily before bei
ng replaced by desire. She then proceeded to love him until he’d blacked out for a few seconds. “Good night,” she murmured after a quick shower and promptly fell asleep. Away from him.

  He’d messed up again, somehow. She hadn’t said anything and their lovemaking was as spectacular as ever, but his empty arms told him he’d messed up somewhere.

  As he drifted off to sleep he remembered. She’d been about to tell him something important. Dammit, don’t forget, he tried to remind himself before sleep claimed him.

  Chapter 15

  “I wish Grandpa was here.” Cassia’s whine was further proof of just how much her illness was affecting her. She didn’t whine and complain, she found workarounds. But as they sat around a large wooden table somewhere on the pediatric ward waiting for some news on her transplant, her daughter whined.

  “He’ll be here as soon as he can, Cassia. He’s deep in Denali working on a tree.”

  Cassia turned to the man in the grey suit on the other side of the table and smiled. “My grandpa is a tree surgeon, and even though he’s retired they still ask for his help ’cause he’s the best.”

  The man gave the little girl an indulgent smile and Zara thought the man would learn soon enough. “A tree surgeon?”

  She nodded like the seven-year-old she was. “Yes. They are vital to the preservation of our ecosystem. Damaged trees that play a role in the food chain will be saved which will save millions of insects, birds and wildlife. Are you familiar with the butterfly effect, sir?”

  The man blinked several times before a genuine smile crossed his face. “Yes, I am, but how do you know it?”

  “I have a very high IQ,” she stated plainly. “So you see, the trees Grandpa operates on save more lives than a regular surgeon. But I still need my surgeon,” she added in a pleading voice.

  He laughed again. “You are a very special little girl, Cassia. I’m Dr. Bishop.”