Love Unbound (A Steamy Billionaire Romance) Read online

  And I can't leave his house just like that as if I completely lost my marbles. I just don't know where to go from here.

  But luckily he rescues me and ignores the control freak remark. He's cool and professional again. “There are warm towels over there on the radiator. More in the cabinet in the corner if you need them. I'll leave you to it and find you some clothes.”

  And he's gone. But now he has left me alone in the bathroom, I'm disappointed. Why did I go all cold on him? He'll think I'm some kind of prude to protest about a kiss. A guy like him must have women all over him. I should have asked him to stay or yanked him into the tub with me or something. And now he's gone I'd like to do just that, ripping off his clothes and feeling the hardness of his body against mine in the steaming hot water.

  That's all very well in my imagination, but when it came to it, I couldn't even look him in the eye after kissing him. Why can't I be all laid back about this stuff like Jessie? She says I'm like a dinosaur. She thought my sort was long extinct. We probably will be soon enough for want of letting anyone near us.

  And even though he's gone, I can't relax in the water. The scent of the bath oil is gorgeous, the water hot, the room luxurious but any moment now he could come back through that archway and find me there naked and vulnerable. After five minutes I'm out of there dripping water all over the smooth marble floor. I get dried and wrap one of the big soft towels around myself as tight as I can. It's only then I breathe a sigh of relief. But then I have to sit around stupidly waiting for him to come back. Of course he was going to give me longer than five minutes. Maybe he's a gentleman after all. Trust me to mess up. I wonder what kind of mood he'll be in. Contract tearing up mood? Is it really that I'm bothered about or is it him?

  CHAPTER 9

  Ash

  I fucking blew it. I couldn't help kissing her. She didn't seem to mind and then she did. No wonder though coming onto her like that. Fucking stupid after she was still in a state with that nutcase of an ex of hers.

  I grab some sweats but I just look at them and laugh. My clothes are never going to work on her petite frame. They'll swamp her. I call Cameron. He'll know what to buy and where to get stuff at this hour in London and he owes me for being all moony-eyed over his new guy this week.

  “What's this? Buying clothes for a woman. Must be love. I never thought I'd see the day.” He laughs.

  “Very funny. I'm on a rescue mission for a new signing. Her own got ripped.”

  “And you didn't have anything to do with the ripping?”

  “No, I fucking didn't.”

  “Sore point?”

  “Just call a store, buy a few different outfits, and cut the crap, Cameron.”

  “What size?”

  “Dunno. Petite?”

  “You're a Philistine, Lynch. You know nothing about clothes.”

  “I don't need to know anything. That's why I pay you.”

  After Cameron briefs me in on what's happening with a promo tour coming up, I let him go off to work his magic and I turn my attention back to Victoria.

  I grab a clean white robe and knock on the bedroom door. She's sitting on the bed wrapped in a towel, all clean and pink, the ends of her hair damp from the bath water. Even with no make-up she is stunning. Fuck! I wish I hadn't come on too fast too soon with her.

  “Sorry I kissed you,” I say. “Bad timing.”

  “Maybe the timing wasn't the best,” she says, “but I'm not sorry. Not really.”

  She's not sorry?

  “I brought you this. I don't have any women's clothes in my wardrobe, nothing that would fit you anyway.”

  She laughs with me. “I'm glad to hear it. You know I don't think a dress would suit you. It's okay. I'll just wear my uniform for now. If you have a couple of safety pins I'll be grateful though.”

  “There's no need for that. I sent for some things for you. If my able assistant doesn't let me down, they should be here within an hour or so.”

  “Do you have assistants for everything? For more besides bath running, shopping and driving?”

  “Not everything. Some things I don't need any assistance with at all.” I raise my eyebrows, hoping she's not going to see that in the wrong light.

  She gets up, laughing, and takes the robe from my hands. She hesitates for a moment and I think she's going to drop the towel and put it on right there. But she doesn't. She takes it to the bathroom and she's back in a flash wearing it. It's huge on her. But I like the idea of her in my robe. I wonder if she's naked under there or if she put on her bra and panties? I caught sight of black lace under her torn uniform earlier. Naked or wearing that?—I want to find out.

  “Is there anything I can get you? Something to eat or drink?”

  “There is something I'd like,” she says. “I don't think I said it properly before so I'd like to say it now. Thanks for going after Jimmy down that alley and for getting me out of there.”

  “Anyone would have done that.”

  “That's the thing. No they wouldn't.” She stands on her tip toes and kisses my cheek. The touch of her lips on my skin distracts me from any kind of rational thought. Dangerous!

  But fuck the danger. I can't help it. If she's not sorry about the kiss in the bathroom. I hope she won't regret this one either and I fold her into my arms. If she pushes me away, I'll admit defeat for now but she doesn't. She tilts her face up at me and offers her lips as if she definitely wants to be kissed. How can I refuse?

  I groan as I take possession of her mouth, the feel of her lips on mine is so fucking good and the scent of her is intoxicating. It must be that stuff I poured in the bath water but it's more than that. There's a hint of jasmine, but the rest is all her, her hair, her skin.

  I push her long hair back behind her ear and plant soft kisses one after the other slowly down her neck. The way her hands work their way below the jacket of my suit and pull at the fabric of my shirt and the little noises she makes go straight to my cock. Am I going too fast? Fuck! The part where all the blood is going is telling me not to slow down. I kiss her again, a deep searching kiss on the lips.

  Her response is not telling me to slow down. Not. At. All.

  She's fumbling to undo the buttons of my shirt but I stop her. “Later,” I say

  My hands stray to the front of the robe and pull the V neckline open baring her shoulders. I brush my lips against the base of her throat and she whimpers. There's no way I'm stopping this now. I pull the top of the robe fully open and she gasps. In fact, I think we both do. She's fucking beautiful.

  CHAPTER 10

  Victoria

  I hear his sharp intake of breath and he looks at me as if he wants to devour me whole. He bends his head further and I feel the rasp of his skin against my breasts as he takes the nipple in his mouth and gentle sucks, releases and then laps it with his tongue sending butterflies right through me, weakening my knees. I've never ever felt like this, had this need take me over like this.

  “Ash!”

  “You want me to stop?”

  “No.” I gasp. Not that.

  I want him to touch me, to suck my hardened nipples until I squeal out in pleasure but of course I don't say that. Maybe the way my breath catches as I stand half naked with him says it all.

  “Good,” he says. “Because I want to take care of you.”

  He guides me back to sit on the edge of the bed and gently unties the robe and pulls it fully open, his eyes not leaving mine. Then he looks at me.

  “So beautiful,” he says. “But I knew that from the minute I saw you dance.”

  Despite my shyness, his words makes me feel all warm inside. I don't think I could have coped if he'd been disappointed.

  He drops to his knees and kisses down my bare stomach right to the junction between my thighs. I hold my breath, all thought obliterated by his mouth.

  Then he laps at me there between my legs parting my folds with his thumbs until I’m totally open to him, my clit filled with blood, with need for his tongue
. And then he's sucking, sucking and stopping, sucking and stopping over and over until I am driven crazy with desire. And I'm begging “Please.”

  He looks at me with his intense eyes then as he sucks, he watches me and I am so open to him, vulnerable and raw and I want to look away but I can't. He holds me captive, mesmerized by his mouth, his gaze. It's only when I come, shuddering against his tongue that my eyes close. I'm not sure, I think I say his name as I call out. When I come down from that place he's still looking at me but smiling a little wryly as if he hadn't expected my reaction to the pleasuring of his mouth. He's not the only one. How did he make me forget myself so completely? How did he do that?

  “I like your idea of taking care of a woman, Mr. Lynch,” I say. I feel as if I need to get back to some kind of formality as if we are in a regular everyday business relationship. I have no idea why I'm even attempting to do that. He's still kneeling between my naked thighs, my legs wide open for him.

  “Ash,” he says again. “Call me Ash.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Ash

  What am I doing? I don't mess about like this with the new signings, with any women for that matter. Let me care for you? I must be out of my mind but that's exactly what I meant and the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

  I've never let any woman get under my skin like this, not for a long time. Once was one time too many. I don't need the distraction or the hassle of that and I definitely don't need a crap load of pain when it all comes to nothing. These days there's never any question of I'll see you tomorrow or next week or next month. I make it clear up front so there's no doubt. But hell! I've said nothing about that to Victoria.

  I need to say something, tell her how it is. But I need to do it gently. I can't just mess with her like this, like some kind of animal and then let her down. There's something vulnerable about her despite the willfulness that sometimes comes out and that makes me feel protective and want to treat her with kid gloves. For some reason I want to keep her safe, and not hurt her, yet it's me who isn't safe with her.

  She reaches out for me again and I grab her hand and kiss it to put off the moment when I have to disappoint her.

  I'm not the man for her. She's not stupid. She probably suspects I'm not and is trying not to think about it. But she already looks disappointed because I stopped her. I hate to be the cause of that look in her eyes.

  “Ash,” she says. “What is it?”

  I start to say something but my hands—traitors!—have a will of their own, and my fingers reach out and brush one of her perfect hard nipples. I swear it hardens further and she gasps again.

  “You're very sensitive there. Next time I make you come, it's the only place I'm going to touch you.”

  “The next time?”

  Shit! I said “the next time,” already making promises like I didn't know better. Truth is I should get out of there and calm the hell down. I am all over this girl and there's no way I can stay away. I don't want her to know how much she's affecting me and I don't want to scare her off. But if I stay I won't be able to stop myself from showing her how much I want her.

  I don't know whether to curse or praise Cameron for his efficiency when there's a knock on the door. Victoria pulls the robe around her and fastens it while I answer. Mrs. Hanson hands me six or seven big shopping bags. I thank her and she goes off, no doubt wondering what I'm up to. I never bring women home.

  “Something to wear so you can escape from my evil clutches tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “So we have time to get the locks changed, but it would be better if you moved out of that place.”

  “That’s crazy. I can't move out just like that. It's not that easy to find a new place.”

  She looks at all the bags. Apparently Cameron had fun choosing a whole lot of stuff. “Thank you for all this, but so many things?”

  “I told my assistant to get a selection. They're all yours if you like them. If not, I'm sure Oxfam will be thrilled to get them.”

  “I can't accept all this. I'll never be able to pay you back. Can you return them to the store? I'll be fine with my uniform.”

  “You have to get used to living in the style of a star because that's what you're going to be.”

  She makes a face.

  “You don't believe me?”

  “How can you know whether I'll make it or not? They might hate me at the audition. And I'll just be out of a job. My job at the coffee shop is not enough to live on.”

  “Victoria you're perfect for that role. If they have a brain seizure and don't take you on, there will be other roles. I'll make sure you have work. In any case I don't want you going back to work at the coffee shop. No side gigs remember?”

  “Does working in a coffee shop count? Who's going to care that I have a job in a place like that?”

  “Jimmy can find you there. He could show up any time at the end of your shift and know you'll be coming out.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I can look after myself. I've been dealing with Jimmy for long enough. He won't do anything once he's sober and has had a chance to calm down.”

  My cock jumps at her defiant attitude. God, I’d love to chastise her for that. “I don't believe that, not the way he went for you.”

  “Look, he's not going to stalk me. He doesn't care that much. Believe me, I know.”

  She seems more defeated now remembering how it was with him. I wonder what happened there. That bastard hurt her in some way. I'd like to wring his neck.

  “In any case, it's not safe to go home tonight so you can sleep here. This room is all yours. Kick me out of it any time you want.”

  She looks as if she is weighing up staying here versus worrying about Jimmy coming around to the apartment.

  “Okay then until tomorrow but I'm going home then.” Apparently I'm the safer option for tonight. I wouldn't say that exactly. It depends on what you call safe because despite all my thoughts about letting her down gently, I meant what I said about her next orgasm. I can't wait to see her squeal out just from me sucking those sensitive nipples.

  CHAPTER 12

  Victoria

  He uses the phone in the room to tell Mrs. Hanson I'll be staying for dinner. Honestly, who has to use a phone to call someone in another room in their house? Apparently, Ash does.

  “Any food fetishes?” he asks me. “She wants to know if you're vegetarian or anything like that.”

  I shake my head. For some reason the fetish idea makes me giggle.

  He tells her no and puts down the phone

  “We have some time to kill before dinner,” he says with a glint in his eye. “I could talk you through my collection of movie star pictures or we could find something else to do, something a bit more enticing...”

  My stomach drops the way he says that. Without taking his eyes from mine, he sits beside me on the bed and tugs at the belt keeping the robe together, pulling me to him. Then he slowly and deliberately unties it so that it falls open and he nuzzles against my neck, holding me virtually naked against him, yet he hasn't undressed at all. It all seems unreal that I'm here with him at all—with the man in the suit. He pulls off my robe and lays me down on the silk coverlet, planting soft kisses on my nipples.

  “Like ripe fruit,” he says, licking and blowing warm air, causing them to pucker and then he sucks on one then the other, taking his time as if he had all night, my back arching to meet him. I can hear soft moans coming from my mouth, moans that I'm not even aware of making. They come from somewhere deep inside me.

  “Perfect,” he says gathering up my breast in his hands and licking over my nipple before swirling around the sensitized peak with his tongue, driving me insane with need and then he sucks the tip once more, as I squirm beneath him. He gathers up my other breast and repeats the treatment, continuing to watch my reaction, meeting every moan with more of the same intense pleasure.

  I thought it couldn't get any better but then he nips my swollen nipple with his t
eeth so softly, it tickles and then harder testing my reaction, nibbling and sucking and licking until the sensation reaches a crescendo and I can't help it. I come. Just from that! I didn't even know I could do that or that anyone could do that.

  “I could watch you do that all day,” he says. “You're so sensitive. And I know where else you're sensitive...”

  CHAPTER 13

  Ash

  Bloody celebrities! Just when I'm about to take things further, Peter fucking Winthrop calls, soap star extraordinaire—more extraordinary for his ability to get caught at whatever crap he gets up to other than his acting. He was one of my early signings when I was pleased to represent anyone on TV. But now, especially tonight, I could see him in hell. Yet I have to leave Victoria lying there and take the call. By the time I calm him down, make sure Cameron is on the case and go back to find Victoria, she's no longer there waiting. Where the hell is she?

  She comes out of the bathroom, wearing one of the dresses Cameron picked out, a simple pale blue silk thing with little thin straps. Good choice!

  “Mmmh,” I say. “Lovely. I’ll have to give Cameron a raise. He even guessed your shoe size.”

  “Well, he sent a choice of three so not so much guessing but I love them.” She wiggles her toes in silver sandals and I laugh. That's Cameron all over using a sledgehammer to crack a nut-sized problem. It's overkill but it usually works on whatever he's dealing with.

  “Shall we see if dinner is ready?” I ask. Perhaps, it's as well things didn't go too far before we talk more. They've gone far enough already. I can't seem to slow down with her. I know I should. But knowing and doing are two different things.

  “Please. I seem to have worked up an appetite. I wonder how.” She giggles and doesn't seem at all irritated that I left her there while I dealt with a client. Perhaps I'm not the only one thinking this is getting out of control.