The Billionaire Bargain #3(25)

“You want it deep?” he rumbled.

I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. I had forgotten how to breathe. Breathing, what was that?

“Yes,” I managed. “Please.”

One of his hands gripped firmly at my shoulder, the other steadied my hip. I could hear his breathing, harsh and eager.

This felt primal, animal, as if he was about to claim me—but his touch was kind, tender. I was pinned, trapped, unable to see him—and yet it was I who had surrendered myself to him, who gave him my trust and turned my eyes from him to let him do as he wished.

It was everything I had ever been attracted to all at once and it was driving me mad; I was so wet, so ready.

I arched up against him, and he drove his cock deep inside me.

I cried out, begging him to f*ck me deeper, harder, longer, to f*ck me and never stop f*cking me, to give it all to me until I couldn’t take any more—and then I lost track of the words that were spilling from my mouth, the words that were becoming gasps and incoherent moans, I lost track of everything but his powerful grip and his hard strokes slamming into me, taking everything I had to give and demanding more, more, more—

The fingers on my hip stretched up to circle my clit and again I saw stars, the whole freaking universe, screaming as my orgasm hit, my core clenching tight around him until he gave one final long thrust and spilled himself inside me with a moan.

I came back down to earth, and felt tears in my eyes. “You were gone,” I whispered, my voice almost breaking. “I went away, but I came back, and you were gone even though you were right there and I thought I’d lost you forever…”

“You could never lose me,” he whispered, and pressed a kiss to my forehead. Were those tears I heard in his voice as well? I couldn’t see. “We’re connected, you and I. The thread that binds us may stretch and fray, but it will never break. And whatever happens today, we’ll get through it. Together.”

? ? ?

We quickly dressed, hoping that no one in the hall—or, God forbid, the ballroom below—had heard our hot monkey sex and that they had made a decision in our favor. Grant looked much happier, but the worry wouldn’t go away until we knew what they had decided. But it couldn’t be much longer now; it had already been over an hour.

“Damn, but I almost wish there was bad news. If there were only any news at all—”

I stood up and crossed to him, realizing with dawning discomfort that my panties were on backwards. No matter. I took his hands and squeezed them.

“Grant, you were great. I know things are tense right now, but I swear, this is going to be fine. Nobody could go against you, not after all those things you said, and the way you said them. You were amazing.”

Grant looked at me as if I were a beautifully crafted puzzle box he had no hope of unlocking. His hand slid up my arm, and cupped my cheek gently. “Why do you care so much?” He didn’t throw it in my face cruelly as he once had; his voice this time was soft, gentle, hopeful and curious at the same time. “Why do you always have my back on this?”

I faltered. “The—the company means a lot to me. The way they took a chance on me—the things I can do with them in the future—”

Some spark of hope seemed to flicker out on Grant’s face. “I see.”

My heart seemed caught in my throat as I held his gaze and spoke the next words. “And you…you mean a lot to me, too. More than the company. More than…anything.”

Grant’s eyes widened, and then he was kissing me, pulling me so close into his embrace that I couldn’t tell where he ended and I began.

“Lacey,” he said breathlessly, pulling away for just a second before kissing me again. He smiled crookedly against my lips, and there was a light of awe in his eyes that I could never get tired of. “You…I care about you too. I care so much, I—God, Lacey.”

He kissed me again as if to say what he couldn’t, and then switched back to words.

“You made me a better man. You made me realize I wanted to be a better man. Before you, I didn’t realize the impact my resources could have—I didn’t realize the impact I could have, for good.”

“You were pretty good on the impact for speedboats though,” I teased, trying to cover up my blushing. I might have succeeded at that, but the tears of joy streaming down my face kind of ruined it.

Grant wiped them away as gently as if he were straightening the wings of a butterfly. “Lacey, I’m trying to say that I love you.”

And there, in that moment, all was right with the universe.

I kissed him back desperately, my nails digging into his arms, my teeth nipping at his lips as his stubble ground against my skin. It was happening, oh God, it was really happening: I had really told him how I felt and he wasn’t laughing at me, he was kissing me, and he loved me, he’d said he loved me, he really loved me. And I was never letting him go.

“I love you too,” I whispered, my heart so filled with joy that it might explode. Then I grinned and whooped. “I love you too!”

Grant squeezed me tight, and leaned in for another kiss—

My assistant Tina burst into the room, her face split in the biggest grin I had ever seen.

“We won! Oh my God, you guys, we won! It was a landslide! Portia’s packing her bags! We won, we won, we won!”