One Night With the Billionaire: Book Two Read online

  Kaia reaches over and cups his face, planting a soft kiss on his lips. “I’m sorry you told that story to someone who didn’t deserve to hear it.”

  “Me too,” he replies, giving her a small smile.

  “It’s scary to let people see the parts of yourself that you want to keep hidden. When you do that with a person who ends up not being who you thought they were, that makes you want to keep them all locked up for good.”

  With an unreadable look on his face, Jason kisses her, long and lingering. “What about you?”

  “My locked up parts?”

  The corner of Jason’s mouth cocks up. “Yeah. Still under heavy duty lock and key?”

  Kaia grins at him. “I don’t have anything like this,” she says, sliding her hand across his chest. “Seems silly in comparison.”

  “Nothing about you is silly.”

  “I had a great home life growing up, and I managed to go off to college without any major traumas. I’ve just had a few bad relationships and even worse breakups. My hangups are silly.”

  “Bad relationships?” Jason asks, curious. He props himself up, a serious look in his eyes. “No one laid a hand on you, did they?”

  “No,” Kaia replies quickly. “No, nothing like that. I mean bad as in dating a deadbeat kind of way. Men—or, boys I should say—who made it clear that they didn’t think I was anything special. It did a number on me for a while.”

  Jason slides his fingers through Kaia’s hair, then tilts her head up and kisses her. “I think you’re something special.”

  His voice is solemn and deep, and Kaia believes what he’s telling her. In fact, he’s made her feel this way ever since she ran into him on the sidewalk outside of his building, and she realizes this is probably one of the reasons she’s been so drawn to him since that morning.

  The realization hits her hard, right in the chest.

  “Thank you.” She nuzzles up against Jason’s side, resting her head on his chest, and traces another one of his scars.

  “Did you want to tell me about them? Is that why you asked?” Again, she doesn’t want to push. But she’s incredibly hopeful that they’ve reached the point in their relationship or, whatever it is, that he’s willing to open up to her about them.

  “No,” he says, his gaze intense.

  Kaia feels a flush of embarrassment heating her cheeks. “Oh, I-”

  Before she can finish her sentence, Jason crooks his fingers beneath her chin, and tilts her head up so she’s looking at him.

  “Not yet. But soon,” he says. “Someday soon, I think.”

  Kaia presses a kiss to the center of his chest, right above a knotted slash of scar tissue. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  The air is thick with something that Kaia can’t quite name, and she’s desperate to break it up.

  “I think they’re beautiful, for what it’s worth,” she says, not exactly sure what makes her say that, of all things. She props herself up on her arm, and traces her finger along the silvery skin of another scar, following the length of it across his flesh. “You survived. You lived. And look what you’ve done with your life. You didn’t let anything stop you, and that’s…it’s so brave, Jason. You’re gorgeous. All of you.”

  Jason smiles. It’s one Kaia hasn’t ever seen before, one that’s so beautiful in its intensity that it makes her breath catch.

  Jason leans down and claims her lips with his. The kiss is searing and intense, and Kaia slings her leg over his hips until she’s straddling him, his cock hard and ready, right where she needs him.

  Jason grips Kaia’s hips to keep her still, his fingers pressing into her skin.

  “You’re gorgeous,” he whispers, his hands sliding up to cup her breasts. His thumbs graze across her nipples, puckering the skin there, and Jason pushes himself up so he can take one in his mouth, then the other. “You’re so fucking gorgeous.”

  Kaia thinks her heart might beat out of her chest just hearing those words from him. A compliment like that from a man like him, well…it sure gives a girl’s ego a boost.

  “I want you to be mine,” he continues, kissing his way across the valley between her breasts, his stubble scratching her sensitive skin. “I don’t want anyone else to have you.”

  “I’m yours,” she says. It’s not exactly the kind of relationship confirmation she was looking for, but in the heat of the moment, she’ll take it.

  “You’re mine,” he repeats, a desperate look in his eyes.

  “I’m yours.”

  With that, Jason angles his hips and thrusts up, and Kaia closes her eyes against the sweet stretch as he fills her.

  “Oh, fuck.” Jason wraps his arms around Kaia’s waist, and buries his face in the crook of her neck. “You feel so perfect, so…”

  Kaia slides her fingers through his hair, and lets him savor the moment. Before long, Jason tightens his hold on Kaia’s hips, rocking her back and forth as he laves and sucks on her neck. She’s holding onto him tight, desperately chasing the sparks of pleasure she feels every time she rocks.

  “Lean back,” Jason says, his lips brushing the shell of her ear. “I want to see.”

  Kaia pulls away from him, taking in his heavy lidded and lust-addled eyes as his gaze falls to her breasts. She’ll do anything he asks her to when he looks at her like that.

  She balances her weight on her knees. Jason lightly grips her upper arms as she moves backwards, not really sure what exactly it is that he wants her to do. He motions for her to plant her hands on the mattress, on either side of his calves, then he gently tugs on her calves until she’s leveraging her weight on her feet. She feels a little ridiculous, like she’s in some weird game of Twister, until she sees Jason’s face, and she understands.

  He wants to watch as he fucks her.

  “I’ve got you,” he says, reaching out to steady her hips as she starts moving. His eyes are focused on where his cock is sliding in and out of her. He’s not getting as deep as he was in their previous position, but the eroticism of it all kicks up Kaia’s arousal about another ten notches.

  “You look so fucking gorgeous like this,” Jason says. “You feel amazing.”

  Kaia rotates her hips on a downward thrust, making Jason’s head fall back, and his mouth part as he takes in shallow breaths. Wanting to do any and everything she can to keep making him look like that, she lifts herself up, then slowly lowers herself down onto him, circling her hips when he fills her completely. He’s letting out these little grunts as she moves faster, faster. She’s chasing her own orgasm too, so, so close.

  Like he knows that she needs something to help get her there, Jason drags the pad of his thumb across his tongue, then rubs maddening circles across Kaia’s sensitive clit.

  Just like that, she’s coming.

  Jason gathers her up into his arms, holding on tight as she rides out the waves of her powerful orgasm, breathing erratically against his neck. He gives her a minute to come down, then he’s kissing her frantically as he flips them over, her back pressed into the soft mattress as he pumps his hips, driving into her at a relentless pace.

  Jason takes Kaia’s hands and twines their fingers together, as he stares down at her with an intensity in his eyes that thrills her. There’s sweat beading above his brow, and she wraps her legs around his waist, pressing her heels against his ass as he comes with a shout, dragging her along with him into another orgasm.

  Kaia loves feeling the weight of him on top of her as his breathing slowly returns to normal. She slides her fingertips up and down the curve of his spine, as he presses soft kisses on her neck.

  “You’re mine,” he says, over and over again.

  “I’m yours.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, because it’s an observation, not a criticism. But you’ve gone completely off the grid lately,” Chase says.

  Jason watches the numbers in the elevator go higher and higher as it makes the climb to Chase’s floor.

  “I�
�ve been busy,” Jason replies. “I asked if you wanted to grab a cup of coffee before this meeting, didn’t I?”

  Chase laughs. “Yeah. I bet it was tough for you to carve that fifteen minutes out of your busy schedule.”

  Jason just gives him a withering look, not really sure what there is to say, because it’s true. He has gone off the grid. Time he used to spend with Chase on the nightclub scene looking for some fun followed by a one-night-stand is now mostly dedicated to Kaia.

  “I’m doing something a little bit different now.”

  “I know,” Chase replies, nodding. “And you seem happy.”

  “I am.” Jason takes a long draw from his to-go cup.

  “Am I going to get to meet her some day?”

  Jason tenses at that, remembering the conversation he had with Kaia, where she made it quite clear that she didn’t want their relationship to be some big secret. That she wouldn’t allow it. And Jason doesn’t want that, but he’s not sure how to let go of his need to protect her by keeping her hidden away. Chase poses absolutely no threat to her. Jason knows this, and still…

  “You’ve got to stop doing this to yourself, man.”

  “Doing what?”

  Chase rolls his eyes. “Worrying that your past is going to come back to haunt you. That isn’t going to happen.”

  “You don’t know that,” Jason replies angrily through his clenched teeth. “If you had any idea what it was like-”

  Chase holds his hands up in surrender. “I was there afterwards, remember? You still haven’t told her yet, have you?”

  Jason presses his lips together, and looks up at the ceiling of the elevator. It’s not moving fast enough.

  “I’m not trying to tell you how to handle your relationships-”

  “Really? Because it seems like that’s exactly what you’re doing.”

  The elevator comes to a halt, and the doors open. Two older men in suits walk in, and the air crackles with tension between Jason and his friend.

  When they reach Chase’s floor, Jason follows him to his office. They still have another fifteen minutes before their meeting starts, and Jason would prefer to have this conversation over and done with before that. Even though there isn’t much that could throw Jason off of his game, he doesn’t want this hanging between them when they’re trying to talk to the board of Chase’s company about long-term investments.

  Chase stops when they reach his assistant’s desk. Amber is a pretty, auburn-haired woman with bright blue eyes and a smattering of freckles across her nose. They give her a girl-next-door sun kissed look that goes a long way toward making you forget that she’s a total spitfire, and someone who can wind up his friend in a way that no other woman can.

  “There were coffees waiting for us at the shop downstairs,” he tells her, holding his cup out for her to see.

  Amber doesn’t even look up from the spreadsheet she’s working on. “I know.”

  “There was one for Jason, too.”

  “I know. Good morning, Jason.”

  “Morning, Amber,” Jason replies with a grin.

  “How did you know Jason and I were getting coffee this morning? I didn’t put that on my calendar.”

  A slow smile spreads across Amber’s face. “That’s what you pay me the big bucks for.” She looks up at her boss, her eyebrows drawn together. “Oh, wait. You actually don’t pay me the big bucks. But you should. Right, Jason?”

  Jason can actually see his friend’s shoulders stiffen. “I’d pay you the big bucks if you could somehow manage to get the numbers for the Morgan account on my desk before this meeting in…” He stretches out his arm and looks at his watch. “Ten minutes. Randall was here till two trying to undo that mess.”

  “I’d like to remind you that there’s a witness here. Jason, you heard that, right?”

  “I certainly did.”

  “No way,” Chase replies, as he makes his way into his office.

  “Way,” Amber whispers to Jason, which makes him laugh.

  Jason takes a few steps forward into Chase’s office, where his friend is standing behind his desk, staring down at the open folder in his hands with wide eyes.

  “Holy shit,” he whispers. “She’s not real.”

  “I’m very real,” Amber yells from her desk. “And I’m holding you to your promise.”

  “I didn’t promise anything.”

  “Jason, he promised, didn’t he?” Amber replies sweetly. “Loads of cash.”

  “He did.” Jason lets out a short huff of a laugh before he takes a swig of his coffee.

  Irritated, Chase closes the folder in his hands and puts it down on his desk. “Where are the-”

  “In the purple folder.”

  “She doesn’t even know what I’m going to ask for,” he mumbles.

  “Yes I do, and it’s in the purple folder.”

  Chase opens the purple folder, and by the tense set of his shoulders, Jason knows that’s exactly what he was going to ask Amber for.

  “Shut the door,” Chase grumbles.

  Jason turns and winks at a grinning, triumphant Amber as he does as his friend asks.

  “You’re lecturing me about my love life while you’ve got that going on?”

  Chase narrows his eyes. “Got what going on?”

  “Whatever it is that’s going on between you two.”

  “There’s nothing going on between us,” Chase says.

  “Whatever you say.”

  “Besides,” Chase replies. “We weren’t talking about me, we were talking about you.”

  “No, you were talking about me. I was avoiding talking about it at all.”

  “Look.” Chase leans forward, resting his hands on his desk. “You’re my oldest friend, and I love you like a brother.”

  “I don’t like where this is going.” Jason sighs.

  “No good is going to come of keeping that secret from her.”

  Jason scrubs his hand over his face, his fingertips sliding across his raspy cheeks. “I’ll tell her when I’m ready.”

  “History isn’t going to repeat itself, man.”

  “You don’t know that, and I’m not taking any chances.”

  “What do you mean you’re not taking any chances?”

  Jason presses his lips together, not wanting to answer, because he knows his friend won’t approve.

  “Christ, you have a security detail on her, don’t you?”

  Jason’s silence is all the answer Chase needs. “And she doesn’t know?”

  “I’ll tell her when I’m ready.”

  Chase shakes his head, with an unreadable look clouding his eyes. “This is all going to blow up in your face, you know that, right?”

  “I’ve got it under control.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Jason and Kaia are curled up on his incredibly large, ridiculously comfortable sofa. Jason has his feet propped up on his coffee table, and Kaia’s legs are flung over his thighs, making it easier for her to curl against his side. Her head is resting on his shoulder, arm wrapped across his chest. She’s nuzzling his neck, feeling the familiar rasp of his stubble against her forehead as she breathes in the clean, spicy scent of him.

  They’re both fully clothed, and there’s not the heady rush of need pulsing through their veins. It’s just a normal night together, with half-full glasses of wine on the end table beside them, and the two of them wrapped up in each other’s arms.

  It’s perfect.

  “Do you have any plans on Saturday evening?” Jason asks.

  Kaia isn’t sure how long it’s been since either of them has said anything, and it startles her.

  “Actually,” she says hesitantly, sliding her hand across the soft fabric of Jason’s shirt. “I might.”

  If Kaia wasn’t so attuned to Jason, she would miss the way his muscles tighten ever-so-slightly at her response.

  “Yeah? You do?”

  Now that she thinks about it, this is the first time since they started seeing each other t
hat she’s actually had plans when he asks her out. Maybe he’s wondering if she’s teasing?

  “I do.” She doesn’t know if she should rush to tell him what those plans are, or if she should wait for him to ask. “Were you…did you have something in mind?”

  “It’s nothing,” he says curtly.

  “You were going to ask me to do nothing?”

  Jason lets out a small, tense laugh, and shakes his head. “It’s a fundraiser. It’s a relatively small get together, but it’ll be full of a lot of people I know. I’d like for you to come with me.”

  He took to heart that she didn’t want their relationship to be a secret, so of course she’d have other plans on the night he wants to introduce her to some of his friends.

  “A friend of mine from college has been working on a contract in Japan, and he’s coming to town for his birthday. I haven’t seen him since we graduated.”

  Jason tenses again. “It’s fine.”

  Kaia reaches up and cups his face, turning his head until her lips touch his, softly, tenderly.

  “You listened to what I wanted.”

  Jason pulls away, his brows furrowed. “What?”

  Kaia laughs, then pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. “I told you that I didn’t want our relationship to be some secret, and you listened.”

  He nods a little. “Of course. I told you it wasn’t a secret. I just wasn’t ready to let people know.”

  “For reasons that you didn’t want to tell me about. And now you are? Ready to let people know?”

  Jason takes a deep breath. “I’m ready to take this step,” he explains. “But if you don’t want-”

  “I want to go,” Kaia replies quickly. “Did you think I was preemptively making up an excuse to tell you no or something?” She’s not angry, just genuinely curious.

  Jason shakes his head. “No. It’s just the first time you’ve had other plans, so I wondered. That’s all.”

  Kaia kisses him again, long and slow until she can feel his lips smiling against hers.