She came again, even harder this time, and a loud moan ripped from her throat. Every time his fingers hit that spot inside her, it took her a little higher.“That’s it, sweetheart. Give me everything.” His fingers were everywhere, sliding, circling, and thrusting. She took deep breaths, trying to force calm into her fevered body, trying to make everything last longer this time. Without much success. Rhiannon ground her clit against his fingers while they slid out of her, drawing a long, low groan of protest from her chest.“Paxton…” she moaned.“I want to spend this night inside your body… feel your warmth around me.” A second later, his heavy, hot body pressed her into the bed, and her thighs opened. Paxton took his weight on his arms and moved his hips so that the heavy length of his cock stroked the top of her sex. Rhiannon couldn’t think, could hardly breathe, couldn’t do anything but want him inside her.“Then what you’re waiting for, Paxton?”
Paxton awakened with a violent start in the middle of the night. His first thought was for the safety of the gorgeous woman curled trustingly against him. She was warm and soft, beguilingly beautiful in the moonlight with her long, dark hair spilling across his pillow. He wanted to touch that hair and kiss her lips again, wanted it so much he had to clench his hands. Ironically, he’d enjoyed his evening with Rhiannon more than he’d enjoyed being with anyone in a very long time. Maybe that was why his gut twisted as he experienced an unusual pang of conscience. After all, he’d seduced her for very deliberate, self-serving reasons. Careful not to disturb her, Paxton sat up and ran a hand through his dark hair. Everything he’d done tonight, the seductive dinner, the kissing, having wild sex in his penthouse, all the shared laughter and smiles, had been a lie. He’d set her up so he could protect his naive younger brother. But at some point
Her eyes were so brilliant with innocence and outrage he almost believed her. He’d wanted to believe Rhiannon. Then he remembered Leilah and how gullible he’d been. Capable as he might be in the business world, apparently, Paxton was an easy mark when it came to women he wanted in his bed.“You deserve an Oscar for this performance! But if you think I’m as big a fool as my little brother, you’re dead wrong.”“Paxton…”“Shut your mouth, pick up your shit from my floor, and get the fuck out of my sight and my apartment. If you stay away from Kieran, I won’t tell him I slept with you. If you don’t leave him alone, I’ll tell him about us. I’ll tell the world about tonight.” Rhiannon wrapped the covers around her naked body and got up from the bed.“Go ahead, I don’t care! Tell him everything. Better yet, I’ll tell him myself. He needs to know you’re a control freak, treating him like a puppet. Maybe he’ll resent you even more than he already does.” Her reacti
PRESENT DAYS (EIGHT WEEKS LATER) This time, the trip from Tokyo to New York City has been way too long. Or maybe it seemed so, since the only thing he had in mind was seeing Rhiannon, talking to her. Two months without a single word from her had been way more difficult than he’d imagined.“Face to face… Finally…” he mumbled. “This time I will get to you. This time you will listen and do exactly what I say.” Paxton had been trying to call Rhiannon from his limo on the drive through thick rain from “Teterboro Airport” into New York City. When all he could get was her voicemail, Paxton had decided to stop by “King’s Wish” on the way to his office to confront her again. He’d just pulled up at the curb outside the restaurant when Roberto, his private assistant, had called him.“Roberto, you know you must call only if it’s a life and death matter…”“‘It is… Sir, you must come immediately to the New York-Presbyterian Hospital.’”“Why? What’s wrong?”“‘It’s about
While pacing the waiting room, Paxton kept thinking of his conversation with Kieran. Well, he kept thinking of all the conversations they’ve had during the last few days. Kieran kept asking him about the trust fund, about the conditions to get those millions, about his allowance. “Oh God… That’s it! He did it for the ten million. He needed to get the money from his trust fund to help a friend… He told me that two months ago…” Had Kieran informed Rhiannon about all that money? Had he told her about what having a baby meant?“Of course he did. Getting married at twenty-five was the key to unlocking the Ridgway vault. And having a baby meant more money… A baby was the icing on the cake… A natural heir, a Ridgway heir, was the perfect answer for both Rhiannon King and Kieran…” Suddenly, Paxton felt cold shivers running up and down his back.“I must do something to stop her for good this time! She must be punished for cheating on my brother… For lying to me…
‘I’ll do anything you want.’ Yeah, right! Paxton demanded her to stay with him stating he’d made a promise to Kieran… Since when did Paxton care about his brother’s wishes? He didn’t even know who Kieran really was, he knew nothing about his real life, about his dreams, about his private life. No, for Paxton it was all about money and control. So, staying with Paxton under the same roof, allowing him to ‘take care’ of her and the baby, was absolutely out of the question. Still, she’d agreed to follow him to Kieran’s loft just to get him out of her back.“Oh, Kieran…” she murmured. “I never should have listened to you! I wouldn’t be here, with that man. You and Santi would still be alive.” Hidden behind the closed curtains, Rhiannon was finishing getting dressed, while planning a quick escape. The cuts and bruises were still quite visible, but she was feeling a little bit better due to the pain meds, and her legs were
The limo stopped in front of Kieran’s loft in the Greenwich Village, or the Village, a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan, the heart and soul of the American bohemian culture. They stepped out of the car and Paxton practically dragged her towards the main entrance of the building. Rhiannon chewed a nail as he jammed the key into the door. Maybe if she deliberately irritated Paxton, he’d decide looking after her wasn’t worth it after all.“I can’t believe, that as frequently as you saw your brother, you’ve never been inside his place before now,” she said. Paxton’s mouth tightened.“Shut up! You know nothing about our relationship.” ‘A small victory,’ Rhiannon thought and smiled.“Oh? Did I hit a nerve?”“Kieran used to have me to his place on the Upper East Side all the time,” Paxton snapped, “but for some reason, he didn’t want me dropping by anymore when he moved here. Usually, we met at my penthouse or somewhere in the city
Suddenly his hands were in her hair, stroking the dark silken waves resting on her shoulders. His fingertips followed the sensuous curve of her neck before he cupped her chin and lifted her slender face to his, his touch as gentle and seductive as it had been that night. Frantically, because it would be so easy to lose herself to the emotions that blazed in his eyes, Rhiannon fought to resist him. If only Paxton had a heart. If only she could truly depend on him and didn’t have to be afraid of how she felt. Her skin burned and her knees went weak. He had only to touch her to make her yearn for him. Had there been a night since she’d seen him last that she hadn’t ached to have him hold her like this and make love to her once again? To look at her as he was looking at her now, with eyes that devoured her, adored her?“Pax…” she murmured when the craving became too much to resist. Rhiannon arched her back and opened