“No. You did great, Billie.” Calista patted her shoulder and walked deeper into the house.
“Why didn’t you use the phone number I gave you?” Julius asked.
“Um…” Billie twisted her hands in the baggy folds of her pants as she squared her shoulders and said proudly, “I couldn’t afford the bill, just like I couldn’t afford the lights.”
With an identical floorplan to Calista’s house, what should’ve been a quick walk through the living room, dining room, and kitchen, turned into a death trap. After a few steps she gave up. It wasn’t worth risking a fall or having something fall on her. “Do you have anywhere else to stay? Anyone to stay with?”
Billie shook her head. “It’s me and my grandmother. That’s it.”
“You can stay with us.” Calista ignored the look from Julius and the rest of them. “Let’s go.” She led the way out of the house.
“Are you sure?” Billie asked.
“Yeah,” Joshua said, speaking for the first time since they’d arrived.
“My stuff. It’s upstairs. I’ll be back in a minute.” Billie took off.
“I’m not leaving that girl in a house with no electricity and no heat on Christmas Eve,” she whispered when Billie was out of earshot. “And if you could walk away from her, then you’re not the man I love. She needs help and I’m going to give it.”
“Yes, dear.”
The two words were music to her ears. “You know…” She smiled brightly. “That’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard from you.”
“Don’t get used to it.” He scowled yet a smile ghosted his lips.
Billie returned with a knapsack on her back. How long was she staying if that’s all she had, though she had stuffed the bag to the brim?
Sunny offered to carry it, but Billie shook her head. “Thanks, but I got it. I don’t want to be a burden.” Her head hanging, she mumbled the words into her chest.
“You’re not a burden. Tomorrow we’ll visit your grandmother. Come on.” Calista led her out of the house. They crossed the street. She spared a last glance at her burning home. The firefighters had the blaze under control, but were too late for the houses bracketing hers to be salvaged.
Julius threaded his fingers through hers, grounding her. The house was the past. Her future lay ahead. A future with a husband and a little girl, and who knows, maybe a couple more. She squeezed Julius’ hand. She had everything she wanted, everything she needed right here. All she had to do was protect it, by any means necessary.
Chapter Thirty
“H ere’s a bedroom.” It was a door down from Joshua, but Calista didn’t think she had to worry. A little tomboyish, Billie wasn’t her horny brother-in-law’s type. He preferred uber-feminine girly girls.
Calista entered the bedroom first. It was nicer than her bedroom at the house—which was now in ashes. “The bathroom is down the hallway. The kitchen is in the middle of the penthouse. Are you hungry?”
“A little, but I’d really like to take a shower. A hot shower. Is that okay?” Billie strolled around the room, her gaze darting everywhere.
“Of course. Everything you need is in the bathroom. There’s always someone around, so if you hear footsteps, don’t be alarmed.”
“Oh. Okay.” She dumped her knapsack on the floor. It landed with a solid thud.
“Goodnight, Billie.”
“Night, and thank you again.”
Calista left the girl alone and walked through the penthouse to the master suite. She passed Edwards during a shift rotation. Sunny, Scotts, Edwards, and Virgil were off for the night. They slept here while the B team had apartments in the building. Andrews, Oscar, and Miguel were good guys. But not family. That’s how it was sometimes. Sometimes, it was just a job.
Joshua was talking to Virgil, convincing him to hangout a bit longer. Calista kept going. A shower sounded excellent. Seemed Julius had the same idea. Steam curled in the air, fogged the mirrors and transformed the room into a sauna.
Her core clenched at the site of him naked, standing under the heavy spray, his head down, his shoulders bowed. He. Was. Glorious. From the hair plastered to his skull, to the water coasting down his strong neck, wide shoulders, and broad back to his perfect ass and muscular thighs. He’d rebuilt himself, and what a beautiful package he was as muscles bunched and relaxed with every shift of his body as he soaped his skin.
Lust was a virus in her system. It wasn’t the hormones. She couldn’t, wouldn’t diminish what she felt by blaming gestation. It was him. It was her.
It’s us.
She stripped and let the clothes fall where they may. His head jerked her way and his eyes landed on her with the weight of a brick. Intense. Possessive. Obsessive. He wasn’t alone. She felt the same, especially as his soapy hands stroked his erect cock. It beckoned her. He beckoned her. With his smile, his body, his aura, just him.
He waited, but he didn’t wait long. She opened the door and entered his lair and took his cock in her hand. The other she wrapped around his neck and went to her tiptoes. They meshed together in a tantalizing glide of lips and tongues. She opened for him, submitting to the sweet torture of his possession while her hand traveled the length of his straining erection, encircling it from base to tip. He was full and thick and throbbing. The distended veins and swollen head made her empty core clench on nothing except air, the hollowness causing an ache. He shuddered and raw pleasure rippled through her and landed in a molten pool at the apex of her thighs. He throbbed in her palm and her core mimicked the tempo. Hearts, minds, souls, they were synched in so many ways.
Calista needed his touch, to feel his hands on her body. A squirt of shower gel in his hands and he soaped her breasts. She ran her hands up his brick abs, over the light sprinkle of hair on his pecs, to grip his shoulders. His muscles bunched and his entire body seemed to hold its breath as she leaned back, stretched herself out. His hands dropped from her breasts to land heavily on her ass. His callused palms on her soft skin.
Suddenly, he snatched her up as if she weighed nothing. She squealed and then next thing she knew, Julius was seated on the built-in bench with her reverse cowgirl on his lap. Out of the direct spray, he palmed her ass and positioned her over his erection.
A low moan slipped from her lips and transformed into a keening cry when he slid home in one devastating thrust. Stretched to the brim, heated words whispered in her ear. “Fuck. Me.” He dragged the words out until they had fifteen syllables.
“Yes,” she hissed and let her hips rock.
“That’s what I want to hear.” He reached around to flick her clit, causing her to collapse into his body. Julius took advantage and draped her legs over his and let his fingers play between her spread thighs. She arched into the touch, seeking more as her arousal coated his cock and fingers.
“Julius!” she cried at the wounding fullness and greedy clenching of her walls.
He growled against her throat, sending reverberations to her loins. Pleasure twisted through her core. She didn’t want to come, not yet when the pleasure was so good her body fucking hummed. Panting, she gripped his head to keep it at her throat and his hand to keep it at her pussy. She rocked and rolled and with a snap of her hips, shattered.
Limbs shaking, core throbbing, she flew apart. Fireworks exploded behind her eyelids, a kaleidoscope of colors and sensations assaulted her senses and stormed through her body. Her orgasm rolled through her core, raced up her spine, and spread through her body in waves until it ebbed, leaving her wanting more, wanting him.
“God, Calista.” He groaned and angled her head for a drugging kiss.
He dominated her mouth so thoroughly all she could do was hold on, and plead for more. He gave her more with each erotic thrust of his tongue, each nip of his teeth. No thought of pulling away and ending the passion entered her mind. She knotted her fingers in his hair and held him to her lips. Their kiss was nothing she’d ever experienced. This connection was nothing she’d ever expected. And now couldn’t li
ve without it.
“I know,” she said, coming up for air. “I feel it too.” All of her was attuned to him, to them, to the bond forged and the life they’d created. Together their hands covered her growing bump. “I love her, and I love you.” Their gazes locked. His burnish eyes were dark, glittering gems in his much too handsome face.
He slid lower on the bench, changing his angle of penetration. He nudged a spot within her that made her eyes cross. “I never thought I’d ever be glad I got shot. Thank you, Lynda.”
Calista arched her back, aiding in the heavenly thrust of their merging bodies. “That’s your answer to me saying I love you.” He hit that spot inside her that had her pussy fluttering. He did it again, and again. She gasped, writhed, wanting it so bad, yet wanting the connection to last forever.
One hand on her hip, the other on her clit, he kept her exactly where he wanted her, as he took and gave, cleaved into her body with methodical precision. Controlled passion. In vain, she tried to change the pace, the angle. He wouldn’t let her. Each stroke followed the next. Each stroke hitting that same spot inside her and ending with his finger flicking her clit. It was almost too much, and at the same time not enough.
“Look at me.” Julius demanded.
She hadn’t realized her eyes had closed until she heard the command. Eyes the color of copper locked onto her and dipped into her soul. “I love you with everything I have, Calista Morgan. You and our baby are my universe.”
She shattered, her orgasm a sweet, never-ending ripple through her entire body, every muscle engaged in the bliss. He continued the steady thrust and retreat, his gaze hot, heavy, heady as she fell apart and came back to herself and him.
“Can’t get enough of watching you come.”
She leaned forward, arched her back and braced her hands on his thighs. “Your turn.” Angle changed, she rode him, lifting herself off his cock and grinding her way down. It was torture for both of them, the best kind, the kind that had sweat popping on their brows and gasps exploding from their lungs. She had no idea how long she could keep doing this, especially with her core tightening on each down stroke. But it felt so good, the pleasure spiking her bloodstream. She could fuck him like this forever.
Julius had other ideas. He gripped her ass and kept her hovering as his thrusts turned shallow. Her pussy grasped on air, hungry for the deep penetration it was now denied. From zero to one thousand, her body was on fire. She needed to come again, needed him to fling her over the edge once more.
He grunted low and hauled her back. Her back to his chest, he wrapped her in his arms. She couldn’t move as his strokes lengthened and he drove into her. Each one more pleasurable than the last.
“Oh God. Julius!”
Every stroke touched someplace deeper, a place she had no idea existed. She cried out because it was so good. So fucking exquisite.
One second Calista was near the edge, next she was flying over it again. She broke apart in brutal waves, the pleasure so intense it bordered on pain. All she could do was cling to the man who’d brought her to the precipice and tossed her over again, and again.
Lost in the throes of passion, she slipped and would’ve fallen off his lap, but he caught her shuddering body and brought her flush against his chest. She came back to herself with him still rock-hard, powering into her core, his cock parting her quivering folds, claiming her wildly.
One hand locked on her hip, the other on her neck, he slammed into her, once, twice, each thrust a brutal claiming. He stayed on the third, his cock kicking inside her. A third and unexpected orgasm rolled through her. She milked his cock as he continued to feed it into her clenching body.
A shudder ran through his body. His thrusts stuttered. He buried his head in her neck and clutched her to him. His groan was a harsh, raspy sound and his cock kicked deep inside her. Warmth flooded her inside.
Together they came down from their high. He held her securely in his arms, nuzzling her neck as she came back to her senses.
“That was…” Words failed her as she peered into his passion glazed eyes.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “That was everything.”
Chapter Thirty-One
N o one plans on spending the holidays in the hospital. Calista had done it twice with her mother, and it had to be one of the saddest places in the world. Particularly when visiting a loved one in a coma.
Mrs. Connell wasn’t responding to the treatment. For all the machines hooked up to her and the medicine pumped into her, her prognosis was abysmal. Mrs. Connell was in a coma from a brain bleed. Billie sat next to her grandmother with fat tears rolling down her lean cheeks. Her grandmother was all she had in the world. Calista exited the room to give the girl some privacy.
“Is there a specialist we could call?” Julius demanded as he spoke to the doctor at the nurses’ station.
The neurologist stiffened. “I am the specialist. Everything that can be done, has been implemented. The most significant mitigating factor is her age. Eighty-six. We’ve given her everything we can. Hopefully, she will respond. Another twenty-four hours and we will know the outcome.”
“Thank you, Dr. Ames.” Calista drew Julius away before he pissed the doctor off further. “I want to go by the house.” To see the burned-out husk, she didn’t add.
He folded her in his arms. “No. We’re going home and salvaging the rest of the day. The mayor promised a preliminary report from the fire inspector ASAP.”
“What’s to inspect when we already know it wasn’t an accident?”
“That’s not the point, Calista. The inspector will discover what was used. Some arsonists have a signature. Hopefully, the inspector will point us in a direction—”
“To the killer.” Calista finished Julius’ thought. He wasn’t wrong, she just hated waiting. She glanced at Dr. Ames and his resident. “You were a bit rude to the doctor.”
His frosty gaze studied her. “It was a valid question. A question I would’ve asked if you were the patient.”
“Well, we can’t replace him without Billie’s permission. She’s family. We’re moral support.”
“Mr. Morgan.” A man approached with his hand extended. Suit and tie, hospital badge dangling from his lapel. “I’m Mark Langner, Medical Director of the hospital. Pleased to meet you.”
Somebody had let the cat out of the bag and told the man a billionaire was in the hospital visiting a friend. And he rushed right over.
Julius shook his hand. “This is my fiancée, Ms. Coleman.” Handshakes were exchanged and Julius lit into him.
Mark sucked up well. His welcome to the hospital and “Can I do anything to make your stay more pleasant?” extended for ten minutes. He even brought Dr. Ames over, who still wasn’t impressed when he found out Julius had a few zeroes after his name. Calista liked a man who refused to suck up.
“Mr. Langner, though I’m not family to Mrs. Connell, I would appreciate a call if she takes a turn for the worst. Her granddaughter is temporarily staying with us and we would soften the blow, if possible.”
It was a violation of the hospital privacy laws, but Langner took Julius’ business card and slipped it into his breast pocket. He nodded once and excused himself.
Billie exited Mrs. Connell’s ICU room, her head hanging, her steps dragging. “Can we go? I need fresh air,” she mumbled, and didn’t wait for Calista and Julius. By the time they caught up, she’d slipped into the car with Sunny holding the door open.
Calista slid into the car and held Billie as the girl sobbed on her shoulder. It took forever for Billie to calm. When her tears finally eased, Calista asked, “Is there anything you need? It’s Christmas, but where there’s a will, there is a way.” Calista wasn’t letting the girl go back to the Connell’s house. Not alone, and not until it was cleaned out, which she couldn’t do without her or her grandmother’s permission. It didn’t take permission to pay the electric bill, and she’d do that as soon as possible. Sometimes it was the little things that helped the most. She
had family helping her when her mother became ill. Billie had no one, but Calista wouldn’t let her go through this alone.
“Um. No. I’m good.” Billie huddled in the seat opposite Calista and Julius. Curled in on herself, she was small and vulnerable. “I’m tired. So tired. I want to sleep for a year.” She flopped back in the seat and closed her eyes.
Julius was on his tablet, tapping away. “Are you working?” She tsked subtly, reminding him this was supposed to be a work-free week.
He smirked. “That’s why I’m a billionaire. I need a few hours and then I’m all yours.”
He was already hers, so she cut him some slack. “What are you working on?”
He sighed. “Overseas stocks. It’s already tomorrow on the other side of the world.”
She wasn’t about to ream him for doing what made him his billions, though this would not be cool when Jewel was born. They would find a way to balance business and family. It could be done.
Calista let Billie rest until they pulled into the garage. The girl surprised her and jumped up without prompting. Was she asleep or faking? Calista wouldn’t blame her if it were the latter. How many times had she herself been trapped with people she barely knew, didn’t like, and had wanted to zone out but couldn’t?
At least she wasn’t crying anymore.
Joshua met them at the front door. “A package arrived for you while you were gone.”
Calista looked at Julius. She wasn’t complaining. His Christmas gift to her was a charm bracelet with Jewel’s name. She didn’t need anything else.
“It wasn’t me.” He crossed the room to the tree and picked up the rectangular box. He shook it before Calista snatched it out of his hands. “Secret admirer? Should I be concerned?”
“I have no secret admirer.”
He snagged the card while she tore open the wrappings. “It’s from Erica.” He angled the card for her to read it.
Thought you might want this.
Erica
Plain and the Billionaire's Seduction (Plain Jane Series Book 3) Page 22