A Bad Boy Billionaire: Forbidden Alpha Male Romance (21 page)

Pure bliss built up in my body, centered on a certain little nub between my legs. He sensed I was close to coming and increased his efforts. I loved how he always changed it up. His mastery of making women scream was only one of the reasons he meant so much to me. That thought sent me over the top. I yelled out in pleasure as my body shook.

As my orgasm died down and I caught my breath, he moved up my body. He held himself up with his strong, muscular arms as I felt the tip of his hard cock press against my slit. I want him inside me. More than anything in the world, I want him inside of me right now. As if he could read my mind, he thrust again, finding the right spot this time.

When he was all the way in, he stopped and stared into my eyes. His eyes were wild with desire. I smiled at him, about to cry I was so happy. He slid out slowly then penetrated me again. Each time he repeated the process, his thrusts became more forceful. We didn’t break eye contact. It was like I could read his soul and understand his mind.

Our bodies found a rhythm. We moved as one body with two minds. Time ceased to be a real thing as he penetrated me over and over again. He changed his stroke slightly every minute or so as he stared deep into my eyes. Birds couldn’t fly as high as I felt with his cock deep inside me, pounding, pleasing, releasing! He grunted and his face contorted in pleasure.

His thrusts slowed them stopped. I smiled up at him, the happiest woman in the world. I flashed a faux smile when he pulled out. It was replaced by a content sigh as he slid his body next to mine. We held each other and enjoyed the afterglow. All my fears and doubts slipped away. The sex had something to do with it, but even after the orgasms, we shared a connection, one that was growing stronger.

“We have so much to do.”

“No rush.”

“Well, I’d like to get married before I start showing.”

“It’s going to be soon.”

“We can just have the ceremony here and invite family.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“I love you, Steven.”

“I love you more.”

I closed my eyes, feeling each and every breath he took while cuddled next to me. We were close and getting closer all the time. In my mind, I acknowledged I couldn’t change the mistakes I’d made in the past and quietly vowed to take my relationship with Steven serious. The thought of becoming a mother was frightening and exciting at the same time. Sleep overtook me.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Over the next few weeks, Steven and I planned our dream wedding and prepared for the birth of our baby. The ceremony and reception would both be small, but it still required a lot of work. Instead of going away on a honeymoon by ourselves, we took the children to Disney World for two weeks. It wasn’t much of a vacation for us.

With each day that passed, we became a better team – stronger, faster, and smarter. As the wedding day approached, I found myself opening up to Steven more. And he did the same with me. Everything was great until two days before the ceremony. Before we were able to tie the knot, my life was blown up and scattered in a million tiny pieces once again.

Nine

Nikki and the Billionaire Wedding

Two days before the ceremony, my world was shattered. Steven had been acting odd, but I thought it was because he was nervous about getting married. Boy was I wrong.

“Are you having second thoughts?” I asked him as we got ready for bed. “The marriage is in two days. You still have time to back out.”

“No, Nikki. It’s not that at all.” He took a deep breath.

I walked over and put my hand on his arm. “Tell me. Please. We’re a team now.”

“I went and saw a doctor the other day.”

My heart sunk. “What did he say?”

“I have testicular cancer.”

“What?”

My knees shook, almost causing me to fall to the floor. He put his arm around my waist.

“It’s going to be okay. They caught it early.”

“You’re going to be okay? You’re sure?”

“Well, I have a couple options. I can go through chemotherapy and hope that gets rid of the cancerous cells, or…” He paused, looking deep into my eyes. “I can get one of them taken off.”

“I just want you to be okay,” I said.

My mind raced from one thought to another.

“I love you, Nikki. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. I didn’t want to ruin our wedding.”

“Nonsense. We can postpone it. You need to get this taken care of as soon as possible.”

He bent down and kissed me lightly on the lips. “Are you sure?”

I nodded my head. “Yeah. How soon can they do the procedure? Is it dangerous?”

“It’s all taken care of already. I don’t want you to worry.”

“I’m here for you,” I said.

“I know. The children are going to need you too.”

“What else can I do?”

“Just take care of them. You can come to the hospital with me if you want. I should be in for a couple of days at least. They’re just taking the left one.”

I giggled nervously. “I’m sorry. It’s so not funny.”

“It’s okay. You’re nervous. I know you.”

He smiled, putting me at ease. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged for all I was worth. After everything I’d been through, I didn’t want to lose Steven just before we were supposed to get married and have a child together.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

A week later, I sat impatiently in a waiting room while he had the operation. The procedure normally took three to six hours from what I’d researched, and I’d been waiting for five hours. Both children were back at the mansion with their nanny, Ms. Jones. Steven told me he didn’t want me to wait in the hospital for him all day, but where else could I go?

I would have given up all my amorous adventures for a guarantee that Steven would be okay. He had scared the hell out of me when he gave me a paper saying I would get ten million dollars if he died during the surgery. After everything I’d been through, the money was the least of my worries as I sat on a chair that had long since become uncomfortable.

As I waited, a text message from Maryanne came in asking if I was okay. I didn’t reply right away. She was a bad influence on me, for sure, but I sometimes wondered if I could change that around and become a good role model for her. If I’d learned anything over the last year and a half, it was that anything was possible.

“Mrs. Cary?” a nurse asked.

I looked up. “Not yet, but soon.”

“Excuse me?”

“We’re not officially married yet, but we’re engaged.”

“Oh, I see. He’s awake. You can see him for a few minutes if you want.”

She led me to his room. He looked pale and much older than I remembered him.

“Hey, you,” I said softly as I stood next to his bed.

“Hey, Nikki. I made it.”

I smiled, emotions welling up, as I reached out and took his hand in mind.

“I’m so happy. How do you feel?”

“Like they just cut off one of my testicles,” he said with a faint smile.

“He needs to rest, but I thought you might want to see him,” the nurse said from the door.

“I’ll see you soon.”

Out in the hallway, the nurse smiled at me. “He’s still pretty out of it, but he loves you a lot. He couldn’t stop talking about you.”

“Thank you,” I said, unsure of what else to say. “When is he going to be released?”

“Tomorrow most likely.”

“Thanks again.”

I raised a hand to wave then turned and walked back to the waiting room, wondering if I should wait it out or go home for a while. After only a few seconds, I decided to go back to the mansion to try to get some sleep. If I managed to rest, I could be at my best when he got released. He had enough money to pay for hundreds of people to wait on him hand and foot, but I was his wife.

A Town Car drove me back to the mansion. Before bed, I stripped out of all my clothes and drew a bath. The tub was ginormous and made out of marble. Whenever I soaked in warm, sudsy water in it, all my stress was washed away. While the water level rose, I lit a few candles throughout the room, which was bigger than my entire apartment had been back in Cleveland.

Memories of Tremont, the mechanic, and Thurston all came back to me as I soaked in the water, but in every instance, they were overpowered by thoughts of Steven, the man I truly loved. His getting cancer just before our marriage had frightened me, but he was going to make it through the ordeal a much stronger man. I looked forward to spending the rest of my life with him.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

A week after his surgery, Steven looked peaceful as he laid in bed next to me. We were both sitting, propped up by pillows behind our backs. The operation had changed him somehow. It was really imperceptible at first, but as I spent hours upon hours with him, I realized he was a slightly different man than the one I’d agreed to marry. He was better.

“I love you, Steven. You know that, right?”

He turned to me and smiled. “Of course I do. And I love you too.”

“I know I probably say it too much, but it’s true.”

“I believe you.”

“Your friends all think I’m just marrying you for your money, don’t they?”

“Honestly, some of them probably do, but I know the truth.”

“Do you, though?” I stared into his eyes, searching for his soul, his inner thoughts.

He nodded. “The cancer really changed my perspective on life. I now realize how important it is to spend as much time with you and the rest of our family as I can.”

I sighed as he gently placed his hand on my stomach, which was no longer hiding my pregnancy. We had to hurry if we wanted to get married before the baby was born, which was important to me.

“Do you think I’m going to make a good mother?”

“Yes, I do. I’ve seen you change over the years, Nikki. In good ways. You’re a strong and powerful woman who’s smart, sexy and sweet.”

“Stop…” I said in a teasing voice.

“I’m serious. I even understand why you took off and went and had some adventures. They made you even stronger, I think. You’ve changed my life in a lot of ways.”

“Like how?”

“Well, making me realize my family is important, for one. I can’t stand all the hours I missed with my children because I thought work was more important.”

“They’re fine. I don’t think you were trying to hurt them.”

“All I can say is that I’m looking forward to retirement and enjoying the rest of my days with you and them. All three of them.”

He leaned over and kissed me on the lips. Part of me wanted him so bad, but the pregnancy hormones and general uncomfortableness shot those ideas down. Steven understood and hadn’t pressured me at all. I was sure being in his forties had something to do with his lack of sex drive sometimes, but I didn’t care. Just resting in the same bed with him was nice.

“You want to watch a movie, Mr. I’m Retired Now?”

“Yeah.”

I flipped through the On Demand titles. We decided on The Big Lebowski, which he’d never seen before. I wasn’t much older than the movie myself. Still, it was one of my all-time favorites. The wedding and giving birth were coming up, but I was able to push thoughts of them aside and just lounge in bed with the man I loved. It was spectacular.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The night before our wedding ceremony, I finally called Maryanne, half hoping she didn’t answer.

“Hello? Nikki? Is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me. I’ve been mad at you.”

“I kinda guessed. You just left without saying anything…”

“We were about to do something that I would have regretted.”

“I understand.”

“Do you? Really?”

“Yes, Nikki, I do. I’ve missed you a lot. We’ve been friends forever.”

“It seems like that sometimes. The thing is, my life is changing. I’m growing up, and I’m happy with that. In fact, I’m ecstatic. I can’t have anyone crazy in my life anymore.”

“Like I said, I understand. Really. I’m sorry about the bartender guy. It was just that we were drinking, and I hadn’t seen you in a while, and…”

“We can talk about it later. I just called to see if you can make it to the wedding tomorrow.”

“It didn’t happen already?”

“We had to postpone again because of something that came up. We can talk about it later maybe. Anyway, I just wanted to see if you would come. We’re not going to have a lot of people.”

“I’m there, bitch.”

I smiled. She was the only person who could make the B-word sound like a term of endearment.

“I’ve missed you too, you know.”

“I bet, Ms. I’m Marrying a Billionaire.”

I sighed. “Don’t tease, okay? I’m really in love with him.”

“I know. You’ve been in his life for years now. Maybe I’m just jealous.”

“You’ll find someone, Maryanne. I’m sure of it.”