The Price Of Scandal(103)

“You already believe me,” I said.

She made a “duh” face. “Of course I believe you. I had to fight my way through the initial mad. But you’ve made it very clear how you feel about me.”

“I have?” I kissed her again.

“Tell me again anyway,” she said, pulling back.

“I find your mind endlessly fascinating,” I said, nipping at her neck.

“Mmm.”

“Your body is my perfection, my playground,” I breathed, darting my tongue under the scoop neck of her shirt to taste the curve of her breast.

“Gah.”

“As for your time, I’m not willing to settle for anything less than all the days of your life.” I slid my hand up under the hem of her shirt, coasting my palm over her warm, flat stomach and higher until my fingers brushed the edge of her bra.

“Is there anything else you want?” she asked breathlessly.

“I want to feed Steve.”

“Only residents feed Steve,” she whispered with the ghost of a smile playing on her swollen lips.

“That doesn’t sound like a problem to me. Wouldn’t Cristoff enjoy cooking for two?”

“Are you sure?” she asked, her eyes hopeful.

“Positive.”

Contorting herself, she bowed back and snatched the second contract off the table and slapped it to my chest. “Then sign this.”

“Are you sure this is what you want?” I asked. She’d built it. She’d continue to build it, and we both knew Emily Stanton didn’t do anything half-assed.

“I want you to have fifty percent of AHA. That includes the building and the equipment, which isn’t really anything right now. But there are future patents. And before you accept, you should know that I have plans for—”

I cut her off and pressed the contract to her breasts, signing with a flourish of the pen. It needed to be signed now before I heard whatever brilliant plan she had for her new path in life. She needed to know that I trusted her implicitly. That I loved her without a fortune or a company.

She was too quiet.

I met her gaze.

“And now we’re partners,” I said quietly.

She nodded and bit her lower lip. “Fifty-fifty.”

“You and me.”

She nodded again.

“How are your intestines holding up?”

She shook her head and laughed ruefully. “Nothing gets past you.”

“Nothing.”

“Surprisingly well for a woman about to lose her billion-dollar company and the last fifteen years of her every waking minute.”

“Eh. Win some, lose some.”

She threw her head back and laughed. The motion had her sliding down my thighs to settle against me.

“You should do that every day for the rest of your life,” I told her, stroking my hands up her waist under her shoulder.

“What? Laugh? Or this?” She rolled her hips against my groin.

I gritted my teeth as my dick throbbed.

“Take your fucking pants off now, Emily, and let’s make a real commitment.”

“Oh, because signing over fifty percent of our companies wasn’t enough?” she teased.

But I was yanking her shirt over her head and pressing my face to her breasts. “Show me how much you want to be with me,” I demanded.

Together, we wrestled her pants off. They landed over the lampshade. Probably a fire hazard, but she was gripping my shaft and freeing it from my sweatpants. And I didn’t care if we burnt down Miami.

I held my breath and her hips as she guided the crown to the apex of her thighs. Wet. Heat. Love.

The sky was getting lighter through the windows. A new day was dawning. Full of possibilities. And then Emily was taking me inside her on a low moan. I held her to me, my mouth fastening on one pert, pink nipple. This was right. This was terrifying. This was real.

“Show me, Emily. Show me how you feel. What you want.” My voice was broken glass. “Show me while I tell you.”

“Derek,” she gasped as she began to move.

“I love you,” I said. “I love you.”

I told her over and over again as she rode me fast, hard, until we were both lost. Until she came and dragged me over the edge with her. I erupted, my release hollowing me out even as it filled her.

All our broken pieces. They melded together, forming something new. Something unbreakable.

“I love you, Emily,” I whispered again against her breast, damp with sweat.

She was quiet for a long moment. Still trembling with aftershocks from her release. “I know.”

I growled, squeezing her hips hard, and she laughed.

“I love you, Derek.”





48





Derek





Every director seated at the table was exhibiting their current dental health. The mouths of all twelve members were wide open.

“I beg your pardon, Ms. Stanton,” said the eighty-three-year-old financier in Hugo Boss. He was the first to break the silence. “What do you mean you’re declining our offer to resign?”

“Exactly that, Warren,” Emily announced. “Flawless is my company. I am the majority owner, and unfortunately for you, you can’t just turn me out, I’m afraid. I would always have a say in company policy.”