Bare Skin: A Billionaire Romance

by Leah Holt

  “How?”

  “Just so I could prove to you that you're worth everything.” My hand cupped her jaw, thumb caressing the curve in her throat.

  Letting her head fall into my hand, her breathing quickened, pulse hitting my skin with a tender beat. “I can never repay you for this.”

  “I'm not asking you to.” My fingers swept around the back of her throat. “This was just for you.”

  “Why? After everything I said to you, the way I acted...” Biting her lip, her eyes searched mine for the answer. “I don't deserve this.”

  “Why...” Pausing, I let my past drift through my mind. The moment, the sadness, the hatred for who I was; my heart cringed, the wound reopening as if it happened yesterday. “What if I told you that before you, I was a monster? Would you accept who I was trying to be now?”

  “What are you talking about? You're not a monster, there's no way I could believe that after seeing what you did for me here.”

  Believe it, because I was.

  My needs always outweighed the people around me, and it was that same evil side that claimed your dreams.

  “You have no idea how selfish I was, and because of that I lost someone close. Someone who always believed in me no matter how much I fucked up. I was too late to fix my mistakes.” Curling a loop of her hair around my finger, my eyes fell to the ground. “I'm not making that mistake again. This wasn't your choice, it was mine. I needed to fix what I stole from you, your chance. And I think you're worth all the risk, Willow.” My fingers tightened around her nape, the other hand walking over her belly, and gripping her hip. “When are you going to realize you're worth it?”

  I couldn't bring myself to tell her the true nature of the man I once was. I lived a life flooded by selfish desires, fueled by alcohol and emotionless carnage.

  The words, the truth behind the night I saw myself as the monster I was... It was hard to say it out loud. My family had abandoned me, blaming me for the entire event.

  And I couldn't deny their claims. Because it was my fault, my selfish need to drink till I passed out.

  Late one night a couple years ago, I was living at my grandmother's. She had been the only one to stay by my side during the worst time in my life. I was reckless, irresponsible, and didn't give a fuck about anyone else.

  And that's why my family hated me to begin with.

  But she kept gifting me her love, trying with everything she had to help me turn my life around. And I was to blind to see it at the time.

  Instead I used her, took advantage of her kind nature.

  When my own mother and father let me slip into the darkness, when they told her there was no hope left for me... She stayed strong, keeping her faith that one day I would cross over, and my world would have meaning.

  I wish I had the chance to thank her. If I could go back and change, go back and do what I should've done...

  She would still be here.

  After an evening of hard liquor, I passed out as usual. Not one care in the world, no direction, no interest in a damn thing.

  But that night, my life changed forever. My grandmother had a heart attack right in the middle of the kitchen. I was there, I could have and should have been able to help her. But I didn't, because I was so obliterated that nothing around me mattered.

  My grandmother laid there on the floor till I found her the next morning.

  And no one in my family had been able to forgive me.

  I didn't blame them. I was a horrible person.

  There was a point when I gave up entirely, and I even hated myself.

  How do you live knowing that you're own vice had aided in killing someone you loved?

  But, I changed. I stopped drinking heavily, I found direction. But I never had the chance to tell her I was sorry and thank her for all she did.

  I will never miss another chance.

  Never.

  When Willow crashed into my world, the feelings I had lost long ago, bubbled back up to the surface.

  I felt her pain, I felt her happiness on that stage, I felt her. Deep in my bones, covering my muscles, through every nerve... I felt her.

  And I hadn't felt a damn thing since my grandmother's death.

  Yes, I gave to others to try and make up in some way for what I hated about myself. But the people I gave to, they gave back to me. What I did for them wasn't free.

  With Willow it was different. I could see her and her desires, I could see her love of art. I knew what it meant for her to succeed.

  All of this, and everything else I had planned, it was all for her. To thank her for helping me find everything I lost, to apologize for being selfish and self-centered. To apologize for stealing her dream right out of her hands.

  This was all to make sure I righted my wrongs, and cemented her place in my world.

  Because she had stolen my heart.

  I wanted her to know what she meant to me, I wanted her to see her self worth and realize that anything she wanted was in her grasp. She just had to take it.

  Her palm hit my chest, fingers sweeping across my hardened muscles. She brought me back from inside my own head, forcing my eyes back on hers.

  “I don't think that way, I guess I'm my worst critic.” Staring at me under hooded lids, her lashes flickered, sending a wave of electricity to my cock.

  My chest was hot, small prickles rode my body with wanton need. She was stunning, her touch, her voice, it was all I needed.

  Every freckle, every birthmark, the tiny crinkles that rested beside her eyes when she smiled. The way her hair fell across her face, the itchy fingers she couldn't stop moving when she was nervous.

  Yes, I paid attention. I watched, I learned. I took her in, I sipped her body and all the perfect imperfections.

  It didn't matter what part of her I was looking at, I wanted all of her.

  And it crushed me to watch her fill with sadness, to see her falling and having no control over it.

  I couldn't take it. I had never felt so much pain for someone else.

  But the flames that swept her dreams away, were the same flames that climbed into my heart and broke it free.

  While her world had crashed, mine had been lifted. With her tears, I found happiness. Not because I'm an asshole (which I was before her), not because I owed her anything, or because it would benefit me; I did it because she deserved it.

  For once in my life, I was completely selfless. Yes I wanted her, yes I claimed her. But I didn't do any of this for that reason. She held my mark on her body, that was more than enough to keep her for a lifetime.

  But Willow was just as talented as she was beautiful, and she had the right to succeed.

  She freed me, she made me look deep into myself, she made me feel.

  And because of that, because of her... I was better, she made me better.

  If in the end, Willow chose to leave me behind, it would hurt, and I won't let her go easily. But it wouldn't stop me from giving her everything she'd ever wanted.

  Because she earned it.

  Willow had done everything right, only to have it fall flat because of things outside her power. She couldn't control our meeting, she couldn't control the building and stop the fire, but she had changed.

  I knew her for a blip in time, and in that time, she had changed. I could see it, she walked taller, she spoke with more certainty, her eyes held on mine.

  Willow deserved the world she pictured herself in.

  And that's why I was here. Because I had the power to give it to her.

  “You can stop critiquing yourself, you just made close to forty grand, what's there to doubt?”

  “Don't I need to pay you? Don't you want compensation for what you put into all this?” Her hand took small steps up my abs, chin inching closer to my lips.

  “Did I ask you for money?”

  “No,” she said softly.

  “Then why question it?” My lips fell to her cheek, the words buzzing over her skin.

  Her body shuddered,
a tender moan pushed off her tongue. Holding her chin up with my finger and thumb, I laid a gentle kiss on her lips.

  I didn't want to consume her right then, not like I had before. This time I wanted to enjoy her, feel her, take her with time.

  Her lips transformed as I pulled away, resting in a soft O, puckered and needy. Her shoulders swayed, head rocking in tandem. “Why did you stop?” she asked, the words leaving her mouth with sultry passion.

  “I'm not taking you outside again. I want it to be us, just us. And I want to taste you, feel you, breathe you.” Nipping her bottom lip, I tugged it gently. “I'll be in touch. Congratulations on your big day.” Swiping my thumb over her lips, I turned and walked away.

  Willow stood frozen, her eyes eagerly calling me to stay. Her mouth moved soundless words, unable to form them across her tongue.

  Speechless. The best way to leave a woman.

  And I planned on doing that to her over and over again, in more ways than one.

  Willow was going to dream me, wake to me, and live her life begging me for more.

  I didn't plan on making her wait long.

  Just long enough to cause her to ache.

  A little.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Willow

  He'll be in touch?

  Seriously?

  I couldn't figure out why his mysterious ways enticed me, but they did. I liked that he kept me wondering, I liked that I never knew what to expect, and I liked that he made it clear he wanted me.

  Pacing around my apartment, I waited for my phone to ding, or my doorbell to chime. I couldn't think straight, couldn't focus on anything. I was a ball of nerves just waiting for him to do something.

  Anything.

  Damn it. Why can't I settle myself?

  It didn't matter how many times I asked the question, I knew why. I wanted to see Kash.

  He gifted me a second chance, he stole me. All of me.

  I'd misplaced my values, and what life should mean. Life was about finding what makes you happy, but that didn't mean happiness wouldn't find you.

  Writing off relationships is what drove me into being an introvert, being left behind by my mother had scarred me. I expected everyone that grew close to me would eventually leave.

  There was this invisible belief that even the most sincere form of love could be tarnished by actions and cold temptations. That if someone was brought to the edge of their own devilish seduction, they would choose the vice over me.

  When Kash had said he claimed me, the words sliced my heart. It was callous and ignorant for him to think that he could just taint my flesh and that would be enough to call me his.

  But then for him to do everything he did to let my name be seen, to broadcast who I was to the local art community... It put my broken heart back together, sealing him inside.

  No one had ever gone out of their way to put me on a pedestal. I felt special, I felt...

  Loved.

  Is that what it is? Love?

  Could someone fall into those four letters in such a small amount of time?

  I didn't believe in love at first sight, I didn't think that even existed. How could it?

  You needed to learn about a person, see every angle of their personality. The sweetest man could harbor the darkest secrets.

  A man that was bold, solid, and rough in all the right edges, could be hiding a past or piece of their personality that would send you running the other way.

  He called himself a monster.

  But that doesn't scare me.

  And it should.

  True evil didn't help you set your name, true evil didn't—it couldn't—touch me the way he had.

  I pegged Kash as a bad boy, a serrated blade that dug into what he wanted; only to fiercely twist out when he was through. Leaving your heart on the doorstep, and soul seeping from inside.

  He wasn't a Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde... Kash was a Roman soldier and God. Built from heavenly steel and holding my heart in his hands.

  Because he believed in me.

  That was more than I could say for so many people.

  Fear had been my safety, fear had saved me from heartbreak, from loss, from; myself. Turning that off, letting go of what kept me safe; it was hard.

  But the fear of letting Kash in had morphed from that jittery, stomach-turning head shake, into excitement of what the future could be, of what we could be.

  And that fear was the best kind.

  A soft tap on my door heaved my lungs into my throat. My fingers skidded across each other, anxiously reaching for the doorknob. Pulling the barrier open, Kash stood a foot away, arms resting behind his back.

  “You know you didn't even ask who it was. What if I was some serial killer stalker?” His lips turned up, ear tipping to his shoulder.

  “Well then I'd get two for the price of one, I already have a stalker.” Giggling, I stepped to the side and fanned him in. “Come on in, I've been waiting for you.”

  Crossing the threshold, he kept his arms hidden. “Are you calling me a stalker?”

  Tapping my finger to my chin, I said playfully, “Well, you know where I live and I never gave you my address, you got my number and I never gave it to you, you know my dress size...” Pausing, I kicked a hip out. “Should I keep going?”

  Nodding his head smugly, he tisked under his breath. “First, you filled out my clipboard the night of the tattoo, giving me your full name—”

  Cutting him off, I pressed a hand to his chest. “Those questions weren't on there.”

  “No, but I don't live in the stone age. You can thank Google for your address, and...” Biting his tongue, his grin widened. “You can thank your friend Beth for your number, among other info I have now.”

  “Wait, what?” Shaking my head, I couldn't stop the laughter from hitting my lungs. “Beth? How?”

  “Well, your very eager friend left her number on my paperwork you guys had. So there you go, mystery solved.”

  “Wait, wait, wait. Beth knew about you, about us?”

  “Not every detail, somethings are just for us.” Winking, his hand emerged from behind his back. And my chest snapped closed, crushing the ribs into my lungs.

  Kash was holding out a huge bouquet of fanning pink Juliet roses. I was floored, not only because they're my favorite flower, but also because the bouquet was two dozen of the most expensive flowers I'd ever seen.

  My hands flew up to cup my lips, eyes growing watery. “Oh my God, Kash. Are those—”

  “They are, and you can give Beth many thanks for everything she shared with me.” Gripping a hand and pulling it from my face, he slipped the stems inside. “Willow, I'm not here to win you over by showering you with expensive things, I'm not here to try and bribe you to fall for me. I said it before, there's something between us and I can't ignore it. I'm only asking you for one thing.”

  Squeezing the bushel in my hand, I wanted to shove them into my nose and feel the soft petals on my skin. I wanted to throw them on the floor and jump into his arms. My eyes wanted to cry, my heart couldn't stop racing, my head was a mess of feelings and desire.

  “What are you asking me?”

  “Give me what I want.”

  “That isn't asking, that's telling. And I need more than just that, tell me what you want from me.”

  Kash's fingers teased through his hair, leaving it partly standing and sticking in different directions. “Give me the chance to make you fall in love with me.”

  Inhaling a labored breath, my eyes welled up, tears sat suspended on the thin lid holding them back. “What?”

  You heard him. Why pretend like you didn't?

  Damn my awkward nerves!

  “I'm asking you to give me the chance to make your life worth living, to make your dreams come true, and all I need in return is your heart, your love. Let me make you fall in love with me, Willow.”

  “Kash, that's a lot to ask.” Tearing my eyes away, I wanted to regain control of myself. If I heard him correctly
he basically said he loved me...

  He loves me.

  How can he love me?

  “Willow, what if I told you that every day you cross my mind, that at night I fall asleep to thoughts of you. What if I told you I can't get you out of my head, and that since meeting you, for the first time in years, I feel. Like really feel.” His hands drew down across his beard, digging into his side. “I'm no saint, Willow James, but since meeting you, I see things differently.”

  “I don't know what to say. Love is a strong word, Kash.”

  “No, living is a strong word. And I'm not doing it unless I have you with me. I hurt a lot of people, Willow. My heart was black, my world could have ended and I wouldn't have given two fucks about it. I didn't have anything to live for, then I found you.” His large hands swooped in and captured my face. “All I need is that chance, give it to me.”

  My lips parted to speak, the air seeped out, ready to tell him that love was a word I shut down and pushed away a long time ago.

  I needed him to know about my mother, about the life that had cursed me from any form of true happiness and future love. Pain was all I knew, pain was all that tormented my body when that word was said.

  My grandmother had done her best to show me that not all love was evil, that love could still be a good thing. But she was too late, I had been burned, the scars hardened and unbreakable.

  I had wished for a day that weight would lift, and love could shine through.

  That day is today!

  How much more do you need to realize it's being thrown in your face?

  Kash didn't waste any time. While my brain tried to find the words and I stood quiet and voiceless, he took that moment in his palms, crushing his lips against mine.

  His tongue filled my mouth, gliding across the ridges. His fingers held me firmly in place, forcing me to accept his passionate need. And I did, I needed it, I needed him.

  Every muscle in my body let go, falling into his solid chest. My breasts perked against the touch, nipples turning into firmed pebbles.

  Kash's hands slid over my ribs, feeling each step with an intoxicating squeeze. “Let me make you mine, Willow.” His lips buzzed over my mouth, nose brushing the tip of mine. “Let me show you I'm the man you've been waiting your whole life for.” The gentle lap of his tongue licked my lips. “Because you're the woman I've been missing.”