Billionaire’s Quarry: A Billionaire, Bad Boy, Romance (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Boxed Set) (44 page)

Do not fall for Skandar Mallory…

He’d gotten away with it by the skin of his teeth, had to lose a couple of paps, but Skandar was home. Before he switched any lights on, he regretfully closed the drapes – with drones nowadays, even a condo as high up as this one could be spied on – but it shut out the view of the city that he loved so much. The place smelled dank and unlived in. He was used to leaving it for extended periods of time when he was on tour, but this seemed different. He walked around the place, trying to get the feel for it again. This had been his solace, his cave but now…

It's not the place that's changed; it's you, he thought to himself. The condo seemed empty, hell, his day seemed empty – without Hayley in it. Shit. He didn't want to complicate their friendship by having feelings for her; he really didn't. And after what had happened to Annika – he was gun shy and a little paranoid.

He took a shower and went to bed, logging on to see if Samadamadingdong was online. No dice. Damn. He could do with someone to talk about Hayley with. Hayley Applebee.

‘Virgin,’ he said out loud, shaking his head. He still couldn't believe it – but he did think she was telling the truth. He thought back to what she said and on a whim, downloaded Delta of Venus by Anais Nin to read in bed.

And when he went to sleep that night, he dreamed about Hayley Applebee in his arms, sweating, panting, crying out his name, and definitely no longer a virgin…

Quilla looked up from her paperwork as her boss turned off the lights in his office. Gerry smiled at her. ‘It’s after seven, Quilla, go home.’

She smiled, waved a wad of paper. ‘I will, just want to finish this before the weekend. Jakob’s coming for me in twenty minutes anyhow.’

‘Well, goodnight.’

The art department at the college was quiet in the evenings. Occasionally a student would pop by for supplies or to borrow some equipment and they would always stop and have a chat with Quilla. She was one of the most popular grad students to go to for advice.

Tonight, though, all was quiet. Good, I can concentrate, and then she groaned as her phone rang. I jinxed that, she shook her head ruefully and picked up the phone.

‘Hello?’

Nothing. She heard the line crackle.

‘Hey, I can’t hear you, so…’

‘Quilla.’

Her palms started to sweat. Gregor. ‘What the hell do you want?’

He laughed. ‘I’ll you that in a while. For now, I wanted to apologize for…hurting you.’

‘Hurt me? You stabbed me, you son of a bitch,' She was mad now, and her voice rose, ‘and you killed that tennis player, that poor girl. Why?’

His chuckle made her want to scream. ‘No, why would I want to do that?’ So fake – he wasn’t even trying to convince her. Bastard.

‘To set Skandar up, to punish the family, because of the pathetic psycho you are.’

‘You listen to me, you little whore,' he spat out suddenly, and Quilla's body started to tremble at the hatred in his voice. ‘You tell that boyfriend of yours that I will never stop until I've destroyed everything he loves. Everything and everyone. And Quilla?’

She didn’t answer him, her throat closed. She heard his breathing, hard and enraged.

‘Tell him soon, very soon. Because when I come for you next time, Quilla, I’ll make damn sure that you don’t survive my knife again.’

The line went dead. Quilla frozen, dropped the receiver onto the desk, heard the dial tone. She wasn't sure how long she stayed frozen like that, but it wasn't until Jakob came to get her that she moved. He took one look at her terrified, stricken face and dashed to her side, locking her into his arms.

‘What is it, darling? What is it?’

She mumbled something, and he smoothed the hair away from her face. ‘I’m sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t catch that.’

She stared up at him. ‘I said he’s going to kill me…’

The police were kind, but Jakob could see their hopelessness. Gregor was in the wind. Quilla told them about her accusation that Gregor had killed Annika, was setting Skandar up. She saw them exchanging glances and desperately blurted out everything she could think of to help but eventually one of them calmed her down.

‘Miss Chen…it’s okay. Mr. Mallory came to us a few days ago with his theory, and in concert with the Italian police…well, we think it has some credence. Skandar Mallory should hear something in the next few days, but we can't for legal reasons confirm that yet. It’s entirely up to you whether you pass that information on to him.’

Later, Jakob and Quilla were in the bathtub, Quilla’s head rest back against his shoulder. The fear that had been roiling in Jakob’s gut since the phone call hadn’t abated and now, stroking his long fingers down her belly, he couldn’t help but picture her dead, stabbed not once but a hundred times, bled out in his arms, her lovely eyes staring and sightless for evermore.

Fuck. He squeezed his eyes shut. He should have told her about the messages earlier. He’d had to admit to receiving them when they were interviewed and the look of surprise, of betrayal on her face he would never forget. She hadn’t said anything to him about it afterward.

Now, they bathed in silence; he heard her sigh. Pressing his lips to her temple, he asked her if she was okay.

‘I’m mad.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Not at you, baby. At that asshole. For making me afraid again. Fuck, I'm so mad.’ She sat up and turned around to face him, straddling him. Not for the first time, he was struck by the beauty of her, her face, her breasts, and the way her belly curved out slightly as she sat on top of him. There was fury in her eyes. ‘Jakob, will you do something for me?’

He slid his hands onto her face. ‘Anything, anything.’

‘I need angry sex,’ she said, ‘I need to fuck and be fucked, hard. All night. In this tub, on the floor, against the wall. Fucking do what you want to me, just nail me right.'

At her words, he felt his cock respond, and she slipped her hands between his legs. ‘You’re so fucking beautiful,’ he growled and pulled her to him, kissing her until they both tasted blood.

She pulled and massaged his cock until it was pulsing with the desire to be inside her. Jakob lifted her so she could guide him in then with one furious thrust, she impaled herself on him, taking the long, thick length deep inside her, grabbing the back of his head with her hands to kiss him as they fucked. His cock drilled into her as she moved and he could feel the muscles in her cunt constrict and pull at him, sending glorious sensations through his body. He clamped his hands around her waist, his fingers biting into the soft flesh there.

‘When we get out of this tub,’ he growled as his lips found her throat, ‘I’m going to lick your pussy until you cannot stand it any longer then my fingers are going to go deep inside you as I fuck you in your perfect ass.’

Quilla moaned. ‘More.’ She slammed her hips onto him and threw her head back. Jacob molded her breasts in his hands, feeling the weight of them, stroking his thumbs over her nipples. He smiled at her. ‘You want more?’

He tumbled them out of the tub onto the floor and pressed her down on her stomach. Grabbing the belt from his robe, which hung on the door, he bound her hands behind her. ‘You like this, Quilla?’

She nodded, her breath quickening as he pushed her legs apart and eased into her ass. Bracing his hands on either side of her head, he began to thrust slowly, listening to her moan and say his name over and over.

‘You’re mine to do with what I like tonight, Quilla Chen.’

‘Always yours, always…’

They fucked until the sun came up, the rays of light streaming across their aching bodies as Jakob took her against the bedroom wall, holding her small frame easily as he slammed into her. His eyes were full of her; he could not get enough of this goddess in his arms. Finally, exhausted, they fell into bed, wrapped their arms around the other and slept. Neither of them noticed – again – the tiny camera that been planted in their bedroom for months now, watching them fuck and kiss and sleep.

The man watching the feed smiled as he watched them, marveled over the body of the woman, so curvy and ripe. He stared at the man, his old friend, his former partner and wondered to himself how he would feel when she was dead. He would soon find out…

This just in…all charges against Skandar Mallory have been dropped after the murder of Mallory’s girlfriend, Annika Hahn last month in Rome. Police are now satisfied that Miss Hahn, a former Wimbledon Juniors champion, was killed in a random act of violence by an unknown assailant sometime after leaving Mr. Mallory’s room on the seventeenth of the month. The Italian Police Association has offered an unequivocal apology to Mr. Mallory for the inconvenience caused and asked for anyone with any information to come forward…

‘Holy shit,’ Hayley said, shooting upright in her bed, and grabbing the remote. ‘Holy shit, holy shit.’ She turned the volume up and listened for a few seconds more before raising her arms above her head and whooping loudly. She muted the t.v. and grabbed her cell. Skandar’s line was busy. It clicked onto voicemail.

‘Yo dude, I just heard, God, I'm so happy for you, Skan, so, so happy…' She found herself choking up as the house phone started to ring. ‘I'll try and call you back in a few but…baby, you made it. You made it!'

Still half crying, half-laughing, she grabbed the house phone. ‘Hello?’

‘Get off your phone I’m trying to call you,' yelled an obviously deliriously happy Skandar, and she laughed through her tears.

‘I was trying to call you! It was just on the t.v. God, Skan…' she did cry then, and he laughed.

‘I know, I know, that’s how I feel…look, there’s only one person I want to celebrate this with but my family are making me have a celebration dinner with them. Say you’ll come and we can make our escape later.’

‘Of course, of course, God, I can't believe it. When did they tell you?’

‘They called about five minutes ago. My dad and my grandfather are dancing. It’s quite a sight to see.’

She laughed. This family, with her sister dating Joel, had felt more like a family than she’d ever experienced and now that she and Skandar were best friends – they spent nearly all of her free time together now – it just made this all the sweeter.

‘Skan, I want to do something special then, something mad, just the two of us.’

‘Hmm, mad – for us that’s not a stretch. Come over soon and we’ll discuss it.’

As soon as the cab pulled up to the Mallory homestead, she raced up the driveway. Skandar must have been watching from inside because as she reached the huge wooden front door, it was flung open, and Skandar scooped her into his arms and spun her around so fast she started to laugh. Finally, he relented and put her down, and she staggered, still laughing. He locked his arms around her to steady her, and she caught her breath.

‘It’s over,’ she said, grinning, touching his face. He grinned that crinkled smile of his and nodded.

‘It’s over, boo.’ They both laughed breathless, then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, his lips found hers and they were kissing. Hayley closed her eyes and sunk into it, his mouth as sweet as she had always thought it would be. His fingers slipped into her hair, gentle, the pads of his fingers stroking delicious patterns on her scalp. She slid her arms around his waist, fingers running over the taut, hard muscular body.

They broke apart just as she was about to pass out from oxygen deprivation, but his hands stayed on her face, his thumbs gliding over the apples of her cheeks. His eyes, that warm brown color, those long, long dark blonde lashes, gazed down at her, his smile, his beautiful smile, breaking across his face.

‘They’re waiting for us inside,’ he said softly, with regret. She nodded, unable to tear her eyes away from his. He took her hand, and they walked inside slowly.

Their family greeted them, and Hayley could see Nan trying not to grin at their clasped hands. She was grateful her sister didn’t say anything about them to her; this was brand new, and she didn’t want to share it with anyone else, yet. Skandar stayed at her side for the whole evening as they toasted with champagne, his hand resting lightly on the small of her back.

Hayley knew that in a few short hours, her life had changed forever and when, finally, Skandar drove them back to his condo in the city, top down in his Mercedes, she felt something shift in her soul.

In his home, she walked around the vast living space, looking around. It was surprisingly chic, and of course, she nodded approvingly at the games consoles. Skandar handed her a cold soda, grinned as she pored over his games collection. ‘Wanna play?’

She grinned at him, relieved that he was so relaxed about the change in the status of their relationship. Reading her mind, Skandar put his soda down, then took hers and put it next to his. He took her hands. ‘Hayley, nothing needs to happen here until you’re ready. We can just hang out and have fun and talk. I wouldn’t mind another one of those sweet kisses of yours, but if you’re not ready, that’s okay.’

Hayley’s eye filled with tears, and he stepped towards her, but she smiled, waved him away. ‘I’m fine, these are happy tears, I promise. I have a confession. I googled you after we first met and all I read were these articles on how much you were a player and this and that. When we became friends, I thought ‘Give him a chance’ instead of judging you. The man those articles described – I’ve never met him. All I know is you, Skandar Mallory. The funny, sweet guy who became as important to me as my own family.’

Skandar simply held out his arms, and she went into them. He buried his face in her neck his lips against her throat.

‘You changed me,’ he said, his voice cracking with emotion. ‘You gave me back hope. You made me believe in goodness again.’

Both of their faces were wet with tears when they kissed again. ‘But I meant what I said,’ he said finally, ‘nothing needs to happen unless you want it to.’

‘Is it okay that I’m scared?’

Skandar grinned. ‘Hell, yes, I’m terrified. I don’t want to screw this up.’

Hayley laughed. ‘In that case, how about we game for a bit, relax us both?’

‘You got it. Choose your poison.’

She settled on Red Dead Redemption. ‘Nice,’ he approved, and they scooched down on the couch to play.

By the time they finished, she was barely able to keep her eyes open. He smoothed her hair back from her face. ‘You can have my bed; I’ll sleep in the guest room.’

She rested her head on his shoulder. ‘No,’ she said sleepily, ‘I don’t want to be alone.’

She couldn’t bear to think of him not being next to her. He didn’t reply but got up and hoisted her into his arms.

In his bedroom, he removed her sneakers and jeans and tucked her into bed; she turned over to watch him undress. He stripped down to his boxers. God, he’s magnificent, she thought, his athlete’s body honed and cut, the broad shoulders leading down to the deep vee of his hips. He was watching her watching him, a strange smile on his face. She took her time drinking him in, every curve of muscle, every soft silky inch of his skin. He made to move to get in bed, but she sat up.

‘No.’

His eyes were sad, disappointed but he nodded. ‘It’s okay, I’ll…’

‘No, that’s not what I meant. I meant…don’t stop…there.’ She blushed but suddenly it was imperative she see him….all of him.

He got it. ‘Off?’ He gestured to his boxers, and she nodded. ‘Okay.’

Slowly he peeled his boxers down his legs, stepped out of then and stood. Warmth flooded through her as he stood there and let her study him. His cock, beginning to stiffen, was thick and long, beautifully shaped. Slowly she crawled to the edge of the bed and he moved so she could touch him. She ran her fingers lightly down the shaft marveling at how silky it felt and how it quivered and grew under her touch. She heard him pull in a ragged breath and looked up at him.

Their gazes locked and at that moment, a silent agreement was made. Hayley peeled off her t-shirt then unhooked her bra. She was astonished that she didn’t feel self-conscious or embarrassed – she wanted him to look at her, to touch her. Skandar gently cupped each breast in his hand, and then bent his head to plant a kiss on each one. Hayley felt herself get wet as he slowly climbed onto the bed and pushed her back onto the pillows. She reached down to stroke his cock again, feeling the heft of it in her hand. Skandar kissed her mouth. ‘You want to stop, you just say stop, and I’ll stop, okay? No matter when, baby…’

Hayley pulled his head down so she could taste his lips again. ‘I don't want to stop; I want you so much…'

Skandar smiled and Hayley gasped as he slipped his hand into her panties and began to stroke her. ‘Is this okay?’

She nodded, feeling her clit harden under his touch and when he bent his head and took her nipple into his mouth, she gasped, the rush of arousal, the depth of her feeling scaring her and thrilling her at the same time. Her hands, still stroking his cock, brushed over the sensitive crest of it and he shuddered. ‘God, Hayley…that feels so good…’

He moved down her body, trailing his lips down her belly, his fingers hitching under her panties and pulling them down. He parted her legs gently then looked up at her. ‘You’re beautiful….don’t be scared.’ She nodded and he bent his head and took her clit into his mouth.

Hayley let out a cry that turned into a giggle of pleasure. Skandar laughed and she felt the sensation rumble through her sex. His tongue teased and lashed around her clit and she felt her sex flood with desire. She closed her eyes and gave herself up to the pleasure. Skandar brought her to near orgasm, leaving her panting and needing more as he leaned over to the nightstand and retrieved a condom from the drawer. He sat back on his haunches to slip it on - he even made that look sexy - and smiled at her.

‘Remember, you say stop, we stop.’

She nodded, panting, wanting to feel him inside her. Skandar gently moved the tip of his penis up and down her slit before nudging at the entrance of her vagina. ‘Okay?’

She nodded, and he pushed inside her. Her eyes widened at the quick sharp pain but as it faded and Skandar began to move, find his rhythm, her legs wrapped around him and she began to move her hips along with him. Skandar locked his gaze on hers, and they rocked gently, the pace quickening as they both drew near climax. Hayley's vision exploded in bright sparks, and she thought she would pass out as her orgasm ripped through her and she clung to Skandar as he thrust harder once more and came, shuddering and groaning her name over and over. Her body, still vibrating with pleasure, felt different as if finally she fit her own skin.

Skandar excused himself to use the bathroom but was back in a flash, climbing into the bed with her and gathering her to him. ‘Hey, beautiful.'

He kissed her. ‘You okay?’

She nodded, her eyes shining. ‘More than okay, Skandar Mallory.’ She ran her finger down his cheek. Skandar nuzzled his nose against hers and smiled.

‘Tired?' She nodded, and he pulled her to him. ‘Sleep now, baby, I'm not going anywhere.'

She thought she might not be able, given the delicious temptation of his skin next to hers but soon found herself drifting off, knowing, without any hesitation that she was in love with him.

Nan rolled over in the bed to find Joel away and furiously texting. ‘Morning, baby.’

He turned and smiled, but she could see the worry in his eyes. ‘What is it?'

Joel shook his head. ‘Fucking Kit. Now Skandar's is in the clear; he wants to do a joint interview with him. Diane Sawyer, for chrissakes.'

Nan frowned. ‘Why?’

‘Because,’ Joel pushed the sheet back and got up. ‘Kit is a narcissistic asshole who will exploit his own nephew to get publicity.’

Nan slid out from the bed and went to him. ‘I’m so sorry, Joel.’ He gathered himself.

‘I better call Skan.’

She gave him some privacy, wondering what would happen. She had never met Kit Mallory, box office superstar actor - or Joel’s youngest brother Grady, for that matter – but Joel and Kit were fraternal twins and to hear Joel tell it, polar opposites. She had met Asia, Kit’s gorgeous ex-wife, and found her to be down to earth and professional as well as warm and generous and could not reconcile the two personalities.

‘I fell in love with him,' Asia had told her quietly. ‘But sometimes, love isn't enough. Not with Kit.’

She had piqued Nan's interest, but she hadn't felt she could ask Joel more – there was obvious some sibling tension there.

Which reminded her…last night Hayley and Skandar had not taken their eyes off each other. Admittedly, it was a bit weird seeing her boyfriend’s son so obviously smitten with her sister but they’d looked so happy. She retrieved her cell phone and called her sister.

‘Hey bug,’ she said when Hayley answered. She could hear the t.v. in the background.

‘Hey, you okay?’

‘Sure, just calling to see if you got home okay.’

‘Um,’ Hayley hesitated and in that second, Nan knew.

‘Hays…are you at Skandar’s place?’

‘Yeah, we came home to play PlayStation, and you know, it got late, so I crashed here.'

Nan smothered a smile. ‘Well, that’s cool. Look, I don’t want to disturb, just to say I have that parent/teacher thing tonight so I’ll be late home. Call if you’ll be out, okay?’

See, she could do ‘cool older sister’ in her sleep. To be honest, she was relieved that Hayley was with Skandar – he could keep her safe at least.