Redeeming The Billionaire (The Sherbrookes of Newport Book 5) (15 page)

She didn’t hesitate to snuggle up to him as she folded her legs up on the sofa. “I saw
Heartbreaker
when it first hit the theaters,” Addie said referring to Mia Troy’s latest movie. “It was great. Let’s watch that one.”

Trent accessed his movie collection and in moments the opening credits appeared on the screen. “If you need anything just say the word.” More content and relaxed than he could ever remember being, he settled in to watch the movie and hold Addie close. As the opening credits disappeared and the movie got underway, he heard the first rumble of thunder. At least he
thought it was thunder. Glancing over at Addie, he checked her reaction, but her eyes remained fixed on the screen.

Assuming the noise had come from the movie, he turned his attention back to the screen just as another rumble reached his ears. Next to him Addie tensed, and he knew the sound hadn’t come from the movie.

“They said we would get storms tonight,” Addie said as another clap of thunder filled the room.

He squeezed her hand. “Look on the bright side, we’re not stuck in an elevator this time.” Maybe if he made her laugh it would help her relax.

Before she could answer, a clap of thunder filled the room, this one so loud it sounded as if a bomb had gone off in his apartment. Under his arm, Addie jumped, her head bumping into his. “Sorry,” she said as she pulled away to look at him. “I know thunderstorms are usually harmless, but I still hate them.” She moistened her lips with her tongue, the action making his mouth hunger for the taste of her again.

“We all have things that bother us.” He lowered his head toward hers, set on satisfying his need to kiss her while at the same time distracting her from the storm outside.

“Even you?” she asked her voice softer now.

He stopped mere inches from her mouth. “Even me,” he whispered before his lips descended on hers. Her lips were warm and sweet and at first he kept his kisses gentle, allowing himself to savor every moment. The longer they kissed the greater the fire inside him burned. When Addie pressed her breasts against him and parted her lips, he couldn’t stop himself from thrusting his tongue inside to meet hers.

Outside, another boom of thunder crashed, echoing the thudding of his heart. Pulling his mouth away from Addie’s, he trailed his lips down her neck and then back up to her earlobe. With his tongue he traced the outline of her ear, causing Addie to sigh. With slow movements, he retraced his steps, pausing once again at her lips and kissing her before working his way to her other ear. As he sucked on her earlobe, warm skin came in contact with his as Addie’s hands slid under his T-shirt and up his back. At first her movements remained tentative, but when he once again pressed his mouth against hers, they became more confident. Like a wildfire devouring dry brush, desire overtook him, and Trent reached for the buttons on her top.

Without breaking their kiss, he undid each tiny button, eager to remove the barrier between them. When he got the last button undone, he pushed the top from her shoulders, tossed it on the floor and then pulled back. For a moment he stared in silence, his eyes taking in the sight before him. “Beautiful,” he said as he reached out and slid her bra straps down her shoulders. When she opened her mouth as if to comment, he covered it with his again. Then he reached around her back and undid the hooks of her bra.

Overhead the lights flickered and thunder crashed again, but unlike before, Addie didn’t flinch. Eager to get rid of another barrier, Trent pulled back and tugged off his own shirt. Before he pulled her against him again, he reached out, his hands moving down her bare arms before making their way up her rib cage to cover her breasts, which just barely fit in his hands. At the intimate contact, her nipples came to life under his hands and he couldn’t stop himself from lowering his head to take one into his mouth. When she moaned, he switched to the other side as his erection begged for some attention from the beautiful woman in his arms.

Still uncertain just how far Addie wanted to go tonight, he lowered her onto the couch and then looked down at her, waiting for any sign he should stop. In response, her eyes met his, then traveled down his body, her hands following the trail they made, leaving a scorching fire behind
on his skin. When her hand paused at his waistband, he assumed she’d reverse her path. Instead, she rubbed a hand down the front of his jeans before undoing the button. As she slid the zipper down, he held his breath, and when she slipped a hand inside and touched him, he groaned. For a moment he lost himself in the feel of her hand on him; then he reached for her wrist and pulled her hand free. Before they went any further he needed to get them upstairs. While he planned on marrying Addie, that didn’t mean he needed any children complicating things right now. The only way to prevent that meant using protection, which was upstairs.

Trent stood and kissed her as he pulled her to her feet. He continued to kiss her all the way across the apartment, only stopping long enough for them to make it up the stairs. Once in his room, he retook her mouth as he walked her toward the bed, stripping her of her skirt along the way. Dressed in only her low cut lace panties, she knelt on the bed facing him and reached for his jeans as another clap of thunder sounded. Rather than flinch, she pushed his jeans down until they reached his knees. Once he freed his legs from the jeans, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him onto the bed with her.

Content now that her skin touched his, Trent allowed Addie to remain in control and enjoyed her caress as her hands wandered down his back, across his ass and to the tops of his thighs. When she reached his legs she started a path back the way she came, only this time when she reached his hip, she slipped a hand between them and ran a single finger down his penis. The simple touch brought his already burning desire into an inferno stage. With one simple movement, he rolled off her enough to remove her panties and then grabbed a condom from his wallet on the nightstand.

“Damn, you’re beautiful,” Trent said, unable to look away from Addie as he tore the condom package open. “Absolutely perfect.” He slipped the condom on, then covered her body again with his.

Addie embraced him. “I wouldn’t say—” Before she finished, he covered her mouth with his, thrusting his tongue inside her mouth as he slid inside her.

***

“Have thunderstorms always scared you?” Trent asked from next to her on the sectional in the entertainment room two hours later. After they’d made love they’d cuddled in bed until both their stomachs demanded food.

Addie shook her head and swallowed the grape in her mouth. “No, at least I don’t remember them bothering me until I was eight.” Her eyes followed his hand as he reached out and grabbed a square of cheese from the platter in front of them. As if they had a mind of their own her eyes traveled from his hand, up his arm and to his bare chest. When they’d left his room, he’d only pulled back on his jeans and she was rather happy about that fact.

“What happened when you were eight?” he asked before he bit into his food.

She glanced back at the movie as the memories resurfaced. “We moved back to Rhode Island when I was seven and my family bought this huge old farmhouse in Burrillville. The house had been built during the Civil War, and my dad planned to remodel it in his free time. Anyway, the night before I turned eight, there was a huge thunder and lightning storm. It woke me up it was so loud. Lightning struck the electrical wires attached to the house. At first we all just thought the power went out, but then my brother smelled smoke. By the time the firefighters got there the house was engulfed.” Visions from that night played through her head. Even after
all this time she could hear the sirens as the fire trucks approached and smell the smoke in the air as the fire devoured the old wood.

Trent touched her cheek. “That’s terrible. Did anyone get hurt?”

Addie swallowed back the emotions bubbling up. “My dad suffered some burns on his arms because of me, but otherwise everyone got out okay.”

“How could that have been your fault?”

Although she’d never change what she’d done that night, she still regretted the danger she put her dad in. “We all managed to get out of the house fine, but once outside I realized Hersey, my dog, hadn’t followed me, so I ran back in to get her. When my dad realized what I did, he rushed in after me. I found Hersey hiding under my bed. By the time my dad got to us in my room, the stairs had caught on fire. We ended up going out my brother’s bedroom window onto the porch roof below and then to the ground.” She shivered at the memory of rushing down the hall toward Rock’s bedroom, Hersey in her arms. “I have never seen my father so angry at me as that night once we were all safe. And I knew even then that it was a stupid thing to do, but I just couldn’t leave her in there.”

Trent took her hand and kissed it. Once again she shivered, but this time it had nothing to do with the unpleasant memories.

“If one of my children ever did something like that I’d react like your father, but I get why you did it.”

Trent a father, now that made quite the vision. With no effort she could see him holding a little baby with sapphire blue eyes and dirty blond hair

“What happened after?”

“We lived with my aunt and uncle for a little while, and my parents had a new house built where the old one had been. They still live there.”

Without any warning he scooped her up and sat her on his lap, the hem of the T-shirt she’d borrowed riding up her thigh. “And you’ve hated thunderstorms ever since,” he said as more a statement than a question.

“Pretty much. If I’m tired enough sometimes I’ll sleep through them, but otherwise they always make me jumpy.”

“I think we just discovered another way for you to make it through a storm without it bothering you.” Trent’s hand slid up her bare thigh and under the hem of the T-shirt as he kissed her neck.

Addie laughed. “Then I guess whenever a storm is predicted I’ll make sure you’re close by.” She placed a hand on his chest. Beneath her fingers she felt the muscles move as he continued his caress on her thigh.

“Now that sounds like an excellent idea.” He moved in toward her as if to kiss her just as she turned her head and yawned. “Tired?”

“You could say that,” she answered, uncovering her mouth. “I’m sorry. It’s been a busy week.”

Trent’s hand slipped out from under her shirt and went around her waist. “No need to apologize. Why don’t you spend the night here with me? Tomorrow we can go back to your place so you can get clean clothes.”

She’d never spent the night at a man’s house, let alone a man she’d known less than a month. Even so, the idea of falling asleep and waking up in Trent’s arms was something she couldn’t pass up. “Sounds perfect.”

Addie pulled at the cotton sheet, but it refused to budge. Yanking a little harder, she managed to move it a little further up her body. How could the thing be stuck? There was nothing in or near her bed for the sheet to get trapped by. Opening her eyes she caught a glimpse of the windows, which covered much of one wall. Heavy curtains covered them, blocking out much of the sunlight, but enough seeped in so Addie could see. Confused, she blinked a few times. This wasn’t her room or her bed. Sitting up, she saw Trent’s legs tangled in the sheets, and she remembered everything. With a smile her eyes made a path up his bare legs across his naked torso and to his face. His eyes were closed and the corners of his lips curved upward as if in a smile.

Careful not to wake him, she leaned forward and placed a light kiss on his mouth, then climbed out of bed. She’d never fall back to sleep now, but that didn’t mean he had to get up. While she waited for him, she’d grab some coffee.

It took Addie a few minutes to figure out just how to use the fancy-looking coffee machine on Trent’s kitchen counter. The thing had more buttons and switches than the inside of her car. Thanks to the directions she found in a drawer, she managed to brew herself a perfect cup of coffee. But before she sat down and enjoyed it, she heard the muffled beep of her cell phone. Turning back into the kitchen, she grabbed the phone from her purse. Sure enough she’d missed three calls, and as she held the phone a text message popped up on the screen.

I’m at your house, where are you?
the message from her cousin read.
I’m getting worried about you.
Since she’d moved into the condo, Chloe often stopped by unannounced, especially on the weekends if neither of them were scheduled to work. In fact, Chloe had her own key. And not once in the two years she’d lived there had Chloe ever stopped by and found the place empty.
Please call me
, the next message read. With the likelihood that Trent would wake up at any moment, she didn’t want a long drawn out conversation with her cousin. If she told Chloe she’d spent the night with Trent, that was exactly what would happen. At the same time she wanted Chloe not to worry about her. Maybe if she kept her answers vague enough, she could reassure her cousin and keep the conversation short.

Addie put her coffee down and took a seat at the table. Then before her cousin called the police and reported her missing, she dialed her cell phone.

“Where the heck are you?” Chloe skipped the normal pleasantries when she answered. “I got here an hour ago. I’ve been calling your phone and the office. You never see clients this early so what are you up to?”