Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance Boxed Set (10 Book Bundle) (41 page)

Chapter 9

Beth heard Gabriel come into the kitchen, but pretended to be too preoccupied with preparing breakfast to have noticed. His footsteps sounded behind her, and her heartbeat accelerated with each step he took. By the time he made it to her she could feel her heart thudding so hard in her chest that she was sure he'd be able to hear it beating.

Stay strong, you decided last night to keep this strictly professional from here on in
, the voice at the back of her mind reminded her. She knew she made herself the promise, but his cologne was now reaching her nose and it smelled so divine. All Gabriel. She gulped down the lump forming in her throat.

"Good morning. I'm sorry about last night. You were asleep when I went looking for you." Gabriel wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled the side of her neck.

She stiffened in his embrace, to keep herself from melting into his arms. It would be so easy to just roll with it and lose herself in him again. She'd like nothing more than that actually. "Morning Gabriel,” she replied solemnly.

"I have a fun day planned for us after breakfast."

Gotta stay strong
. "Is it business-related?"

Gabriel stopped nuzzling her neck and took a step back from her. A part of her cried out in frustration as the sweet sensations that were beginning to get her wet and cause a fluttering in her stomach immediately stopped. "Beth, what's wrong?"

Taking a deep breath to gather the courage she needed to say what she needed to, she spun around to face him. Her resolve faltered as she noticed the concern in his eyes and expression. "I think us getting involved beyond an employer/employee basis is a bad idea and I feel it's best if we-" she lowered her eyes to the floor between their feet.

He placed his index finger under her chin and tilted her eyes up to meet his once more. "Are you saying that because it's what you really want or are you just scared of what might happen between us?"

"Gabe..." Not wanting to discuss it any further or continue to have his dark eyes staring into hers she attempted to turn away, but he grabbed her upper arm and spun her back around to face him.

"Is it Chyna? Nothing happened last night between us. I seriously doubt she'll ever be back."

Why did he have to make it so difficult? His eyes coaxed her to tell him the truth and she found herself unable to keep from spilling what she felt to him. "I'm not like them," she murmured, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

Gabriel's frowned deepened. "I'm not following you Beth."

"The women you date. I'm not anything like them. I'm your maid!''

He raked a hand through his short dark hair and shook his head. "We've been through this already. I want to be with you
because
you're not like them!" Smoke began to rise from the pan she had on the stovetop behind her. "Fuck!" Leaning over her, his hard, lean body pressing hers against the countertop, he turned off the stove and removed the burnt food from the heat.

She waved at their burnt breakfast, in disgust with herself. "I can't even do the job properly." She fought back tears threatening to well up in her eyes.

"I don't give a shit about breakfast Beth, so don't change the subject. You want to discuss this, well then, let's discuss this," his voice had risen, not a lot, but considering he was always so calm and collected the slight shift in tone and volume was slightly unsettling.

Her own temper ignited as they glared at each other.
Fine! He wants honesty, he'll get it!
"I am
not
going to be a fling. And I'm not going to be used," she growled, planting her fists on her hips and daring him to say the wrong thing.

Gabriel closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Taking a deep breath in, he held it for a few moments before releasing it in a loud huff. He shook his head as he opened his dark eyes back up, the anger rapidly leaving them. "When did I ever say you were? And why would you ever think..."

She chewed at her lower lip as she considered it. Sure, he hadn't actually said she was, but what else could she be? His girlfriend? She scoffed at the idea; it could never work.

"Damn woman. Why would you think I considered you that? Have I given you any reason to feel that way?" His jaw clenched and he was visibly fighting to remain in control.

Beth shook her head. A stray strand of hair fell over her eye and before she could brush it back, Gabriel reached up and did it for her.

"I need to share something with you," he stated, taking her hand in his. "Come with me."

Beth was tempted to refuse, but her reserve was already faltering.
Maybe I'm just overreacting? The least I could do is give him a chance to explain
. "So what happened with Chyna last night?" she asked as he led her up the staircase. "And where are you taking me?"

"I restated to her that I had no interest in her romantically and that it would be appreciated if she no longer stopped by for anything other than business reasons."

"And how did she respond?" A rush of happiness flowed through Beth hearing him say that, but she quickly pushed the emotion down. She couldn't allow herself to be excited over this, because that would mean she wanted him. And she couldn't want him because she'd only get hurt in the process. She'd taken chances on men before and it turned out horribly bad.

They reached the second floor and he gave her hand a tug, leading her towards his bedroom. "She called me a number of unsavoury names and left. Which reminds me. Please do not buzz anyone that you are unfamiliar with past the main gate without my permission."

"I didn't, I just opened the door when she knocked. She knew the code."

Gabriel stopped in mid-stride and frowned. "Shit, I must have forgotten to change the passcode once we broke up. I could have sworn I had changed it though." With a shrug, he gave her hand a squeeze and tug as they continued on their way.

"So what is it you need to show me Gabriel? And why is it in your bedroom?" she asked as she found herself facing his bedroom door.

"I need to show you a part of who I am. It's part of the problem I have with women. I don't share this part of me with many women, so just keep an open mind," he turned to face her, his eyes pleading, "please."

She gulped. She was beginning to fear what he had to show her. However, a smile and his light chuckle helped relieve some of the uncertainty.

"I don't think it's as bad as what you may be thinking by the look on your face."

Beth blushed as he ushered her into the bedroom. "Well. No. I just. I'm not sure what I think, but you don't make it sound like I'm going to be pleased."

He grinned down at her, his dark eyes blazing and sending a shiver through her. "You never know. You may find what I have to show you
very
pleasing." Walking over to what she had assumed was a second closet, he opened up the door and ushered her into the dark, windowless room. Following behind her, he flipped on the light switch and a faint glow illuminated the room from sconces along the walls.

Beth's eyes widened as she surveyed the contents of the small room. Against the back wall was a large metal X with restraints attached to it, she knew the name for it, it was on the tip of her tongue, but it refused to come to her mind at that moment. Four chains dangled down from the ceiling with leather cuffs dangling from them. A spanking bench was to her right, a swing to her left and a couple of machines that she was unfamiliar with towards the back. It was the ultimate collection of BDSM equipment as far as she could tell.

She could feel his eyes on her as she entered the room, and just the feel of his eyes sent a shiver of anticipation through her and her breath hitched. She walked slowly through the room, examining everything. She fingered one of the leather cuffs suspended from the ceiling and wondered how many women he'd had suspended in them. The thought of another woman in here sparked another shot of jealousy. She swallowed and pushed it down.

"You haven't got a look of horror on your face so I will take that as a good sign."

She whipped her head around to look at him, her hair fanning out around her head. Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes caught his. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, and his dark eyes had turned predatory. Dangerous. The look in his eyes caused a stirring between her legs. There was no question in her mind what exactly he was. Gabriel Reynolds - the Dom. The thought excited her more than she would have imagined.

Beth had been fascinated with the world of BDSM for years, but never had the nerve to step out of her comfort zone and either seek out a partner or suggest to someone she was sexual with to experiment with it. His question of whether she liked to "play" or not when he'd found her looking through his toys made perfect sense now.

"How many women have you had in here?" she couldn't keep herself from asking. She knew it was none of her business, but at the same time he had said there were issues between him and previous relationships because of his sexual appetite and preferences. She assumed this would be the reason.

"Not many. Most of the women I date are very," he took a deep breath in and sighed loudly as if considering his words, "controlling. Even the illusion of giving up control for them is
unthinkable
." He rolled his eyes at the word unthinkable and Beth couldn't help but laugh. Yes, she could imagine. She'd done the research on the women he tended towards and had felt she had a pretty solid grasp on the type of people they were. Her grin faded as he pushed himself from the wall and stalked over to her. She gulped and took an instinctual step back.

"I see," she whispered as he finished closing the distance between them. His body, hard and enticing was mere inches from hers as he slipped a hand to the back of her head and fisted her hair and lowered his lips to hers. All thoughts of insecurity and indecision towards him and their arrangement washed away and she fell into his arms, slipping her arms around his neck and surrendering to his probing tongue. His tongue invaded her mouth, demanding her surrender.

His hand tightened into her hair and he gave it a tug, forcing her to lift her chin and expose her long ivory neck to him. "Do you want to play, Beth?" His voice was so deep, and sexy. It was like liquid satin to her ears and she moaned her response.
Yessss...!
As her pussy ignited into a raging inferno and her panties grew increasingly wet with her arousal the only thing she could think about was allowing him to do anything he wanted to her. She wanted to give herself to him. Nothing would please and excite her more than pleasing the handsome man whose mouth was now making its way down her neck.

"Teach me Gabe," she managed to gasp, gripping tight to his shoulders. She pressed her body tighter to his, and felt the ridge of his arousal through their layers of clothing.

Once he reached her collarbone, he pulled away and took a step back from her and her body immediately longed to be back in his embrace. She was tempted to close the distance once more, but restrained herself. Instead, she stood in the center of the room, in her shorts and t-shirt waiting for him to tell her what he wanted. She may have been green when it came to this type of play, but she was hardly naive.

He rubbed his chin, which was showing just a faint hint of shadow. He looked so damned sexy, his gaze so piercing as his eyes leisurely examined every inch of her that it made her weak in the knees and sent her heart racing.

"Are you sure?" His eyes locked onto hers.

Beth nodded. "Yes." His expression darkened, like he was expecting more. "Yes... Master?"

A soft growl-like noise came from him, and his eyes lit up with excitement and pleasure. "Smart girl. I like that."

A rush of pride raced through her. She could do this and she was going to love it. She fought the grin of delight that threatened to touch her lips. She doubted that would be welcome in this scenario.

"You know about safewords, I assume?"

She nodded, her stomach doing flip flops. She was nervous and excited and a hundred other emotions all at once. Her nervousness had more to do with not knowing what would happen exactly, and nothing to do with her trust in him. It was at that moment she realized just how much she
did
trust him.

*
* * *

Gabriel was so hard he thought he was going to explode. He didn't expect her to be so open and willing and certainly didn't expect to be doing this now. He could see a slight nervousness in her eyes, so he had to keep reminding himself to take things easy on her. When she called him Master, in her soft, sweet voice, it was like fucking music to his ears. Now he just had to figure out what he was going to do with her for the first session. First of many he hoped.

"Think of a safeword and tell me what it is after you've undressed for me."

She hesitated. "Anything, Master?"

There was that Master again. He clinched his jaw holding himself back. She was a fucking dream come true. "Anything."

She nodded and began to undress for him slowly, provoking him with her stunning blue eyes. She grabbed the hem of her tight t-shirt and pulled it up over her head. She wasn't wearing anything under the top. His eyes lowered to her nice perky breasts; her large pink nipples begged him to take them in his mouth. Again, he restrained himself.