Baby Fever Bride: A Billionaire Romance Read online

  “Maybe there was another motive for their wedding. I mean, case in point.” Smiling, she points between us. “Marriage isn't always about love.”

  “No, it's not, and we're done here.” I lean forward, tapping the button for the intercom, telling the driver to start back to Chicago. “You've seen enough, love. You know what I'm dealing with.”

  “I have, and I'm glad you showed me,” she says, laying her head on my shoulder.

  I've answered a lot of questions tonight. Wish there weren't as many unsolved mysteries on her end. We ride on for about ten minutes in silence, before I start stroking her sexy red hair, tugging on the locks slowly and gently, until she whimpers.

  “How about a trade? I've opened up, but you're still hiding. Why is it you want this baby now, Penny?”

  She looks up, straightening in her seat. The tension in her body tells me she isn't sure if she should say anything, but she's thinking about it.

  Good enough for me. I've found my opening.

  Taking her hand, I place my free one on her cheek, leaving it there until she faces me again.

  “My clock's ticking, Hayden. I'm afraid if I tell you why. If you know, you won't want to –“

  “There's nothing you can say to stop me from wanting to be between your legs tonight,” I whisper, watching her eyes twitch in my gaze. “Unless you're about to tell me our kid's going on the black market, I will knock you up. Just want to know why there's a rush to make it happen.”

  “I'm sick. I was coming from the doctor the day we met on the train, when that creep came after me, and you made him back off. I was in Cuba a couple months. I got Zeno from a mosquito.”

  “Zeno? I thought they were working on a vaccine?”

  Her eyes drop. “It's five years off, maybe more. Besides, that's purely preventative. Won't help me now that it's in my system. There's no cure, Hayden, not even an experimental one.”

  “Christ. I'm so sorry, babe. I've read about what it does, it's becoming a real problem overseas, and now here at home.”

  My gut sinks. Everything makes sense, but it's no consolation. She's fighting for her dreams the same way I'm in the trenches for mine, working against the clock.

  “My doctor said I have about two years before it's impossible to conceive. Honestly, it's the only thing I ever wanted. I have to do this. I have to have a child before it's too fucking late.” Her face tightens, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. I've seen her cheeks go red about a hundred times by now, but this is all shame, disappointment, and fear.

  It's infuriating.

  Seeing her beauty, her life, and knowing she's stuck worrying about fertility, something no woman this young and vibrant ought to fear...there's no justice. “Not your fault, love. Why the hell did you hide it for so long?”

  “Because I'm forced into this. Because this diagnosis destroyed everything I always thought would happen. I saved myself for marriage, Hayden, or at least for a man I thought would care, who'd really love me, who'd make it meaningful when we finally decided to...to...”

  Shit. I pull her in tight, thunder rumbling in my throat while I tug at her hair, letting my suit soak up her tears.

  I don't know what's happening, but I'll never let her go. There's an instinct welling up deep inside me, a need to make this sweet, innocent woman's dreams come true. A need to protect her.

  I'm not scared if this isn't all pretend anymore. What we've shared tonight, what she's just laid on me...fuck, it's real.

  Every last word.

  Every damned desire.

  Yes, the universe is a fucked up place, poisoning her body like this in its prime. But I can help turn the scales, give her something she'll cherish forever.

  I won't let her down. I can't.

  When she turns her face to mine, breathing again, I see the tiny cut healing on her lip, left by my bitch of an ex. One more blow from life she didn't need, when she's suffered more than me, a bigger problem than money hanging over her. Penny's hurt goes straight to blood, family, and a hundred other things I don't know what to think about, except that I admire her certainty, desire, and need.

  Naturally, I wouldn't be a Shaw if my mind didn't go somewhere else, too. “Wait. You're telling me you've never had anyone before? I thought you were exaggerating when I read that damned diary. Penny, you're a virgin?”

  She closes her eyes again. More hot tears come, hot and truthful. My dick throbs while I press my cheek to hers, sweeping her sorrow away in my stubble. I'm smiling when she looks at me again, and her nose turns up.

  “Stop looking at me like that. I already feel dumb enough. For fuck's sake, Hayden, I –“

  “You're perfect. You've got nothing to be ashamed of. You're doing what's right. You're honoring me, asking to take you where no man ever has.” Where no man ever will, a voice inside me growls, but I don't dare say it out loud. “Penny, you're amazing. Stop doubting yourself, or making excuses for the crap hand you've been dealt. I get it. I'm on board, love. A hundred percent and then some. And I will fuck your virgin pussy so many times, you'll be having triplets when we're through.”

  At last, she smiles. Strained, red, and perfectly beautiful, like sunshine piercing the dense grey clouds dominating the Chicago skyline this time of year. My lips move in for the kill.

  There she is. Happy, relieved, and alive in our kiss. I take her mouth hungrily, giving into the animal struggling inside me, the big cat that sees a chance to seize, pin, and own her, inside and out.

  “We're almost home,” I whisper, breaking our kiss to gaze into her eyes. “I know it's not the way you wanted this to go down. Too bad. Damn it, I'm going to make sure you enjoy this, every second I'm in you.”

  “No.” Her fingers pinch mine, tight and desperate. Grateful, perhaps. “It's already better than I expected a week ago, when we first decided to do this. We're just in time, too. I've been using an app to track my cycle. Tonight, we have a good chance of making it happen. If you're ready, I mean.”

  Is she joking? I've never been more ready to fuck in my entire life.

  There's fire in my throat when I take her lips again, kissing her slow and angry. Fire in my blood, racing up my spine, churning in my balls, screaming to unload their contents in her when she's wrapped around my dick, coming undone.

  When we give our tongues another break from dancing, she looks at me, and doesn't need to ask a second time.

  I'm ready, she's ready, and I think the world is ready for our kid. Our car makes the home stretch through Chicago's glittery streets, wet and reflecting the golden city lights, bringing us to the piece of paradise I'm hellbent on carving in this night.

  As soon as we're next to the elevator, I'm picking her up. Then I'm going to bring my wife upstairs, into my bedroom, and fuck her until we're spent. Only thing she's going to worry about when we're through is how she's going to walk tomorrow.

  9

  Heart to Heart (Penny)

  Everything is amplified because it's really happening. His touch, his kiss, the way lightning courses through me every time he gives me that glance. The one that tells me in no uncertain terms there's no going back on this tonight, and I'm going to have the best night of my life making our baby.

  Hayden can't keep his hands off me the instant we're back at the tower. The elevator doors slam shut. He holds me against the glass, his mouth on mine, fingers roaming my back, sweeping down to my ass.

  I'm wetter than I've ever been. It's sticky, honest passion, a comfort with surrender, being stripped bare because we've come clean. I've divulged my dark secrets, learned a few of his, and now I'm ready to reveal my body, too.

  My hands meander across his chest. I pull on his red tie when his teeth catch my bottom lip. He spreads my mouth open, pushes his tongue against mine, sucking and licking. He makes me feel everything he's dying to do to the rest of me.

  One hand I flatten over his buttons, eager to shred them. I want to let the cat out to play, release his lion to rule over me.


  Growling, he puts his hand over mine, curling my fingers with his against his shirt. “Go ahead. Make these buttons fly, love.”

  I don't know what's a bigger shock: that he doesn't care about this expensive clothing whatsoever, or that he's able to read my mind. My eyes flutter open, waiting for one more signal, my fingernails trembling as they search out the buttons on the line that's hiding his incredible chest.

  The elevator dings. We're at our destination, but he spins around, reaches behind him, and taps the hold button. He slams me against the wall a second time, kissing me harder than before, stealing the breath from my lungs

  His hand circles to my front, caresses my thigh, and keeps going to my panties. Cupping my mound, groaning when he feels my wetness, cursing into our next kiss. My eyes have rolled so far back in my head I'm not sure if they'll ever find their way forward again. And when I think about how hard he is, as rock hard and ready to fuck as I am wet...

  Holy, holy shit.

  “Do it,” he snarls, closing his hand around mine, taking a fistful of his shirt. “Last time I'm asking nicely, beautiful. You're going to take what you want right here, before we head into my place, or I'm going to eat your virgin pussy in full view of everyone.”

  I just can't.

  Whimpering, my fingers plunge down. They shred down his neat, buttoned down seam, opening his shirt. His warm skin dances beneath my fingertips as several marble colored buttons go flying, clattering when they hit the floor.

  It sets him off all over again. He comes in like a storm, slamming his lips down on mine, pushing me into the glass wall, hiking up my skirt. His bulge finds its way between my legs, grinding against my clit through several layers of fabric.

  Yes, yes, yes! He's full, hard, and oh-so-ready to take me to bed. Or maybe right here.

  Every time his hips slam against mine, I'm a little closer to heaven. Deeper in the zone, where it's impossible to care about anything except his skin on mine. I'm so turned on I'm not even ashamed, knowing his servants could walk by any second, and see us marvelously compromised.

  My hand works inside his shirt, pulling it open. Spreading my hand along his heavily inked chest, I savor his warmth, his power, his muscles tensing every time I swish my tongue over his.

  No, it's no surprise he knows what I want. We're on the same wavelength, bound together in our need, racing through our bodies a little quicker each second like a merciless fire.

  “Enough.” He breaks away, grabbing my hands. Hayden doesn't give me time to fix my dress before he's leading me into his condo, straight down the long hall with more onyx cats standing guard.

  They're the only witnesses to our lust as we head to his room, thank God. He walks me through a small sitting area and a kitchen, a condo-within-a-condo, opening to another breathtaking view of the windy city below. His bedroom is about what I'd expect, but I'm still not ready when we're there.

  I have to stop and rub my eyes, blinded by the opulence. There's gold and ivory lining every corner, a bathroom attached that looks like it's competing with his bedroom in glass and gold splendor, plus a mirror – yes, a spotless, gleaming, perfect fucking mirror – attached to the ceiling.

  Right over his bed. I didn't think it was possible to get wetter, but it happens the instant the realization hits.

  I'm going to be watching him above and below. Every angle, every kiss, every lick. Every maddening, rampaging thrust.

  I'll see his gorgeous back ripple when he tenses, cries out, and empties himself inside me. Mercy me.

  “Bad girl. I see you've found a new interest.” I'm caught. He's smiling, following my eyes up to the mirror overhead, working off his tie. “So, do you want to stand there and eyeball it all night, or do you want me to show you a reflection that's much more interesting?”

  I don't move, bright red fire licking my cheeks. Hayden pulls me into his embrace again, this time stopping to squeeze my ass when both his hands land there.

  “You're soaked, aren't you?” he whispers, making me feel his stubble when he rakes his face across my cheek, nipping at my ear. “Let me help you out of this dress. It's cruel to be suffocating when your skin wants to breathe.”

  Cruel? He has no idea.

  Cruel is being forced to think about how he's conquering every nerve while his hand finds my zipper, and starts to unwrap me.

  Cruel is being kissed for hours, swung on a pendulum somewhere between love and hate, confessing my inner secrets to a man who's gotten closer than he ever should.

  Cruel is every second he's not inside me, pinning me to the mattress, one pump closer to our baby each time his pubic bone grinds against my clit.

  It's his turn to suck air, holding his breath when my dress drops, and he gets a good, long look at what he's been chasing. “Beautiful, love. Beautiful, and about to be ravished.”

  Hayden takes a step back to admire me. There's no disappointment in his eyes, but it's a small relief when it's like he can see straight through me. This is way beyond vulnerable.

  My nipples harden in my bra, turning to stones when he gives me a smirk. My legs pinch tight, but there's no hiding the seething, hot wetness leaking out of me, the damp spot drowning my fuchsia panties.

  “Forget Kayla trying to screw me over. You know what's a crime?” he asks, sliding off his jacket and letting it fall to the floor.

  “No?” I shake my head, but the look on his face tells me he's only talking about one kind of wrong.

  His shirt comes off next, his thick fingers popping the last few buttons I missed when I tore his shirt open, revealing the wild tapestry on his skin. He sinks to his knees, wraps his hands around my legs, and gives them a jerk, pulling my legs apart as he supports them against his shoulders.

  “The fact that we didn't run into each other on that damned train a year ago. I'd have eaten this ginger pussy to the moon and back a thousand times over by now.”

  My knees start shaking. He hasn't even started yet.

  His hand moves up, tucks his fingers into my waistband, and lowers my last shield. He takes my ankle with his big hand and makes me step out of them when they're down, freeing me for his fingers, his face, or whatever else he wants to do to me.

  Don't look down, I tell myself. I'm going to completely lose it if I see him staring up at me, giving me the look that says who's in charge, even when he has his face between my thighs.

  I hear him inhale, kiss up one thigh, and come to an agonizing stop several inches from my tingling pussy. I can't stand anymore without help. My hands go on his shoulders when my knees buckle, and I know it won't be the last time tonight.

  He's turned me into a hot, desperate mess. My lips open, and my voice runs on pure, shameless lust when I let out a single harsh whisper. “Please.”

  “Not until you look at me, love.” His hands catch my thighs, and he digs his fingers into my skin. “I want you watching when I plunge my tongue into your sweet cunt. I want you to see my lips smother your clit, bring you off like you've never had it before.”

  Save me. Opening my eyes, I slowly look down.

  Danger itself stares back. It's Hayden, and his eyes are fire, blue flames telling me he means business.

  My eyelids flutter a couple more times. He moves his face close to my pussy, opening his mouth so I can feel his hot breath rolling against it. My hips push toward him, but he holds back, refusing to give me what I need until we do it his way.

  When I finally force myself to gaze into his eyes again, he's smiling. He knows he's won, the bastard, and I don't even care if he's half as good as he claims to be at sexing me blind.

  Like there's any reason to doubt. If it is, it's dashed a second later, when he spreads my legs apart just a little bit wider, all the better to bury his face against my core.

  He holds nothing back. Lips and teeth and tongue tease me at once, coaxing more wetness when it shouldn't be possible. He laps my sweetness like a starving man, his tongue pulsing between my labia again and again.

  If it we
ren't for his hands, I'd fall. Amazing how he's able to tame me with just his fingers and tongue, wrapping one arm around my hips when he moves his hand near his face, spreading me open so he can lick harder, deeper, faster.

  Mercy, mercy, mercy! Except there's none when he drags his mouth through my folds, licking my pussy numb, drawing lightning through my blood, up my spine, and into my head.

  I'm not going to last long. I thought men were supposed to be the ones who worried about coming too fast.

  I lay one hand on his head, shoving his face into me, fingernails digging into his scalp. Hayden growls. When he finds my clit, it's over.

  He pulls it between his teeth, surrounds it with a delicate, manly force there's no escaping. His tongue sweeps over my pulsing nub in waves, each more frantic than the last.

  Wicked.

  Wet.

  Wild.

  Precision.

  He's honed his skills on a hundred other women just for me. I never had a chance.

  My thighs spasm, shaking uncontrollably as the fireball in my womb swells, hot coal ready to blaze through me. I'm melting down from the inside out.

  “Oh...shit! Hayden, I'm –“

  My body finishes my sentence for me. Two seconds later, I'm coming so fucking hard I can't even speak.

  Hayden pushes his face deeper, merciless, licking faster and harder as I'm coming undone. It's like I taste better to him because I've officially lost it.