“Max...” He knew where she wanted him and the heat of his mouth. But he was deliberately drawing out the pleasure.
He glanced up at her. His eyes were heavy lidded with desire as he kissed his way back up her legs and thighs, stroked her belly, then paused, hovering over the place that ached for his touch, his fingers, his mouth. “You want me here?” he teased.
She nodded enthusiastically.
When he bent his head, she weaved her fingers through his curls and waited, waited for him to make her his, because she was. At the first flick of his tongue on her, Tahlia ground her hips into the bed as fire raced through her veins at the contact. Her every nerve ending was on fire waiting for his next action. Maximus teased the nub at the center of her with gentle flicks, stimulating her sensitive tissues, and when he darted his tongue inside her, Tahlia became unglued. She cried and keened as his clever tongue and fingers drew out a scream and her first orgasm surged through her.
* * *
Maximus lapped up all of Tahlia’s sweet nectar but didn’t stop tormenting her. After he’d left his mother at the estate, he hadn’t known where he was driving until he’d ended up at Tahlia’s doorstep. Tomorrow would bring their first real test, and he was afraid of what might happen. As much as he wanted to ask Tahlia to vote with him, he didn’t. He needed to know if she’d do it on her own because she cared for him and wanted what was best for him.
Maybe deep down he knew the answer and that tonight might be potentially the last time he would ever have her. If so, he was going to make it count. He cupped her buttocks and thrust his tongue deeper inside her. Tahlia panted uncontrollably as he continued his determined assault. Her second orgasm came quickly, and she yielded every inch of herself to him.
It was only then that Maximus sheathed himself with the condoms he’d kept in his pants pocket since meeting Tahlia and slid up her sweat-slick body. He wanted to be inside her, but Tahlia pushed him backward and climbed on top of him. She took his erection in her hands and traced the length of him. Maximus hissed out a breath when both her hands encompassed his girth and she took him inside her mouth.
He heard a moan escape his lips as he felt her take him deeper into her moist, silky mouth. He reveled in the way her tongue swirled around his length and how she paid special attention to the crown, teasing it with light flicks of her tongue. He threw his head back and accepted her ministrations not only because it felt good but because he was with Tahlia, a woman he’d come to care about greatly and could possibly love.
When he could take no more, he flipped her over onto her back and kissed her. The sigh of pleasure that escaped her lips was cut off by Maximus entering her, possessing her, inhabiting her completely. He pressed his lips into hers and thrust his tongue inside her as the lower half of him did the same. Her answer was to roll her hips to give him better access. And so he moved deeper, and Tahlia accepted him greedily, hungrily, bucking and writhing underneath him.
That was what he loved about her, her openness, her lack of inhibition when it came to their lovemaking. She let him know that she enjoyed every minute of it. So he thrust into her more steadily, bringing both of them to the precipice, then easing back. He would make the moment last. He raised himself on his forearms and slowly thrust in and out of her. Tahlia splayed her hands across his chest and then upward to encircle his neck, urging him to pick up the pace.
He compiled and pounded into her over and over again. She gasped but clung to him as he built up their pleasure until finally the world turned on its axis and everything dissolved and pure bliss coursed through them.
Maximus fell on top of Tahlia, and she accepted his weight, holding him to her. When their breathing returned to normal, he slowly released her and lay back against the pillows. Tahlia curled up beside him, her head on his chest. It felt so natural to be with her that he drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 12
Maximus stood at the head of the table in the Knight Shipping conference room at the Wednesday meeting. He’d left Tahlia’s in the early-morning hours to get back home and face the day. He hadn’t wanted to disturb her. No, that was a lie. He was afraid to face her and see doubt or confusion in those brown depths, so he’d taken the easy way out and slipped out of bed while she was sleeping.
Now he watched the executive leaders and heads of departments enter the room. He’d asked them to attend so he could introduce them. The board meeting was being held in the next fifteen minutes, and neither Lucius nor Tahlia had arrived yet. It gave Maximus a few minutes to get his head on straight. Most of the meeting was routine and would require very little input from either one of them. However, there was one item on the agenda that required a majority vote.
He wanted to take the company public. Knight Shipping had come a long way, but in order for the company to expand and compete with the big boys, it needed to become global. He’d discussed it with his father before he’d passed, and Arthur had adamantly refused. He’d wanted it to stay a family business, but Maximus had disagreed. It had been a source of contention between them. Maybe that was why Arthur had decided to split his shares of the company with Lucius—to make sure it would never happen.
Maximus was hoping to convince Lucius and Tahlia that it was the right move. Lucius had to realize it was the right move. He’d seen for himself at the shipping yard that they were at capacity. Plus his own company, Knight International, was a publicly traded company, as was his fiancée’s, and they’d both been quite successful. He wanted the same for Knight Shipping.
Lucius stepped into the boardroom several moments later. Maximus glanced in his direction. His older brother looked ever the businessman in a sleek gray suit and tie. His hair was neatly cropped as always. Maybe if things had been different they might have had a relationship, but now they were on opposite sides.
When Lucius saw him standing at the far side of the room, he strode toward him. He extended his hand. “Maximus.”
Maximus was surprised he wasn’t calling him Max again to rile him up. “Lucius.” He shook his hand.
Lucius glanced around at all the people in the room. “Are all these people really necessary? Aren’t you, Tahlia and I the only shareholders?”
“Yes, but I thought you’d like to meet some of the heads of the departments and see who works for you,” Maximus responded smoothly. “Not all of them were on-site during your tour.”
“Of course. Good thinking. Where’s Tahlia?”
Maximus hated that Lucius was using her first name. He didn’t know her like Maximus did, as intimately as he did. As if her ears were ringing, Tahlia entered the room just then in a stunning suit that Maximus suspected was new. She didn’t usually wear suits. Her style was much more bohemian chic. He watched her long legs as they strolled toward him, and his mind went to the two of them in bed last night and how he’d taken her from behind just that morning.
She smiled at both men when she made it to their group. “Lucius, good to see you again.” She held out her hand.
Lucius accepted and patted her hand. “Tahlia. You’re looking well. Actually, might I say, glowing?” He glanced in Maximus’s direction. “Life is certainly agreeing with you.”
Tahlia blushed. “Thank you.” She hazarded a glance at his direction. “Maximus.”
He noticed that she called him by his given name and not Max, like when they were together. Did that mean something? There was also a question lurking in her eyes, like why hadn’t he kissed her goodbye when he’d left?
* * *
“Tahlia.” Maximus nodded his head and looked down at his watch. “We should get started.” He moved away from the duo and toward the head of the table. He cleared his throat. “Good morning, everyone. I’d like to get started. I’m sure you’d all like to get back to work.”
There were several laughs and guffaws, but eventually they all took their seats. Lucius fla
nked Maximus’s right while Tahlia opted to sit at his left. When he glanced in her direction as he sat down, she gave him a tentative smile.
“I’ll call this board meeting to order,” Maximus stated and looked at his assistant, Elena, to record the time since she was taking the minutes.
The next hour went by quickly, with Maximus reviewing typical business matters and introducing the executive team and key department heads. Lucius asked questions occasionally while Tahlia was silent and wrote notes in a folio she’d brought with her, but Maximus knew it was the calm before the storm.
“Now on to new business,” Maximus said. “As many of you know, Knight Shipping has had an excellent last decade, but our reach within the United States and abroad has reached its full potential. In order to go after new contracts, we need to expand, but as good as we’re doing financially, we just don’t have the working capital for a project of this magnitude.”
“I’m in agreement. Expansion is always good,” Lucius stated. “I mentioned as much during the tour. But why is this on the table now? I’d thought I’d have time to review your proposal beforehand.” He eyed Maximus suspiciously.
“There’s a multimillion-dollar deal to transport luxury vehicles that’s come across my desk, but the only way we can go after it is if we expand.”
“What do you propose we do?”
“We need to go public.”
“Pardon me?” Lucius asked in a chilly tone.
Maximus turned to stare at him. “You heard me. If we go public, we can raise the capital we need to expand Knight Shipping and finally reach our full potential.”
“But Knight Shipping is a family company, is it not?” Tahlia inquired, finally speaking for the first time.
“Yes, it is,” Lucius stated, glaring at Maximus.
“Don’t dismiss this out of turn,” Maximus replied. “Going public makes sense. Elena, will you hand out the prospectus? This will show what impact transporting the additional goods will have on our bottom line.”
His assistant rose from her post at his side to hand out packets to each person at the table. Maximus watched Lucius and Tahlia look over the materials. The room was silent as they both absorbed the material. Maximus knew some of it was over Tahlia’s head, but she was bright enough to catch on, and if not he’d explain it to her, make her see how good this could be for the company.
It was Lucius, however, who spoke first. “Looks like you’ve done your homework, Max.”
Maximus bristled. He’d resorted to calling him by his nickname. He took it to mean he’d gotten his older brother’s ire, which wasn’t a good sign of things to come.
“Yes, I have, and the name’s Maximus.”
“How long have you been working on this?” Lucius inquired. “You couldn’t have come up with all this—” he pointed to the prospectus on the table “—in the last couple of months. So how long?”
“Does that really matter?” Maximus responded.
Lucius spun around in one of the executive chairs. “Yeah, it kind of does. Because if you’ve been working on this for months, it means you’d have brought it to Arthur’s attention, and if you did, this would already be in the works. But since it’s not, it leads me to believe that he shot you down.”
“Is that true?” Tahlia asked softly from his side.
Maximus glanced at Tahlia. The look she gave him was both inquisitive and suspicious. He knew because he’d seen all of her looks, or at least he thought he had, until now.
She was silent as she waited for him to respond.
“Yes. I had mentioned this to my father.”
“You mean our father,” Lucius asserted.
A horrified gasp echoed from around the table.
“I mean, my father,” Maximus repeated determinedly, “but he was too shortsighted to see what going public would do for our company.”
Lucius stared at him. “Going public would mean we—” he pointed to both of them “—would have to put up our shares. What exactly is your intention here, Max? To have me put up all my shares and leave me with no stake in the company?”
Maximus snorted. “As I said, I presented this idea to my father well before I knew of your existence.”
“But you’re presenting it now, why?”
“Because it’s an excellent idea.”
“I don’t think that’s why,” Lucius responded, folding his arms across his chest. “It’s because you want to get rid of me and dilute my shares so that you end up as majority shareholder.”
“That’s not true,” Maximus stated.
“Is he right?” Tahlia inquired, peering at him incredulously. “Is that why you’re bringing this up now? I mean, we’ve hardly had time to process the fact that we’re shareholders. And I know how badly you want to expand, but you want us to make this decision now.”
“Time is of the essence, and we need to start moving on this.”
Silence ensued at the table for several long moments.
“I’m inclined to agree with Arthur. If he didn’t want this for his company, why should I go against his wishes?” Lucius inquired.
“You didn’t even know him,” Maximus stated vehemently.
“Through no fault of my own,” Lucius returned evenly. “And I’m not going to get into that right now. So my vote is no.”
“You haven’t even given this due consideration,” Maximus replied. “This is a good deal. It will create hundreds of jobs and make Knight Shipping a force to be reckoned with. If this were one of your other companies, you wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. You’re voting no out of spite just to see me fail.”
“You have no idea how I feel,” Lucius said. “And perhaps in time I’ll change my mind, but at this moment the answer is no. And since your vote is undoubtedly yes, that leaves you, Tahlia.” He looked at her from across the table. “Where do you stand?”
Maximus wanted to know the same thing and looked at Tahlia. His eyes pleaded with hers to trust him, to believe in him that he knew what was right for Knight Shipping and that he’d never lead them astray.
Tahlia glanced at Lucius and then at Maximus. He could see she was torn. This was a big decision. No, it was a monumental one. Because not only was she voting about whether to take Knight Shipping public, she would also be voting for or against Maximus. One outcome would mean they could continue on and flourish in their relationship knowing they were of one mind. The other outcome, the more treacherous one, possibly meant the end of a good thing. A good thing Maximus didn’t want to let go, but ultimately it was Tahlia’s decision. Same as it had been when they’d become involved.
“My vote is no,” Tahlia finally said quietly.
“What was that?” Lucius asked. “Because I don’t think everyone heard you. For the record, please, if you could speak up.”
Tahlia looked at Maximus as she spoke. “My vote is no.”
Maximus felt his heart closing in on itself, but he refused to allow his outward appearance to belie his inner turmoil and that his heart was breaking. “All right, let the record state that the vote is two to one and with fifty-one percent of the voting shares. This issue of going public is tabled. I believe that concludes new business, unless anyone else has anything else to add?”
As he looked around the table, he could see the disbelieving looks of his executive team, who knew going public was a solid move. “Then the Knight Shipping board meeting is concluded. Thank you, everyone, for attending.”
Maximus closed the folder on the table that contained all the work he’d been diligently working on over the last year to convince his father and now Lucius and Tahlia to vote his way. But he’d failed once again. He rose to his feet and headed for the exit.
“Maximus, wait!” Tahlia caught up with him at the double doors. “Can we talk?”
“N
ot now, Tahlia,” he said firmly, his mouth a grim line. “Not now.”
* * *
Tahlia stared at Maximus’s retreating figure and moved aside as the other meeting attendees left the conference room. She could feel tears stinging her eyelids, but she had to keep it together. She couldn’t cry in front of them.
“Are you all right?” Lucius asked from her side.
Tahlia shook her head and felt him softly grasp her arm and pull her inside the now-empty room. Before she knew what was happening, he’d pulled her into his embrace, and she finally let out the tears she’d been holding in.
“There, there,” he calmed her as if she were a small child as she cried into his no-doubt designer suit.
When she finally lifted her head, Lucius was looking down at her. “Come, sit.” He guided her to a nearby chair, and once she’d sat, he offered her a handkerchief from the inner pocket of his suit jacket.
“Thank you.” Tahlia sniffed, accepted the hanky and began blowing her nose. Why did she have to break down in front of Lucius of all people?
“He’ll get over this,” Lucius stated.
She glanced up at him. “Who?”
He smiled knowingly. “My brother.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“No need to be coy, Tahlia. I know you and he are involved,” he responded.
Her brow furrowed. “How?” Was she really that transparent?
He shrugged. “It’s not hard to figure out after your reaction to him leaving just now. But to be frank, I noticed Maximus’s interest in you from day one when we were at the estate and again during the tour. And from what I’ve heard, it’s only progressed since then.”
“Have you been having us followed?” She was horrified at the prospect.
Taming Her Billionaire Page 13