Bare Skin: A Billionaire Romance (22 page)

As if he could read my mind, his mouth found my breast, sucking hard, flicking the tip of his tongue over my hardened bead. My back arched off the bed, hips grinding up to rub his cock against my hot center.

If I wasn't ready before, I would have been right then. My panties were drenched, every piece of my body was tender and sensitive to his touch. He needed to be in me, I needed to feel him in my core, feel his hard cock deep inside my pussy.

Grabbing the edge of his briefs, I slid them over his legs. His cock snapped free, thick and ready. The large veins pulsed under his skin, his tip was red and swollen, glistening with pre-cum.

“Please don't make me wait me anymore, I need you now.” Curling my fingers around his shaft, I glided my hand from the head down to his fury base.

Kash moaned a deep, throaty growl. Throwing his head back, his chest puffed out. “All you'll ever have to do is ask, I'll give you the world.” In one quick snap, he tore my thin thong in half. Dropping the shredded material to the floor, his eyes stayed static on my body.

I couldn't keep still, my muscles rolled, hips lifting up.

Guiding his cock over my pussy, the crown smoothly glided over my wet heat, eagerly pressing forward to my entrance.

Teasing him, I slipped him up and down the center, hitting my sensitive button. Kash let out a ravenous growl, head tipping back. My body was on fire, I felt like even the slightest move could send me over the edge.

Touching the opening, he didn't wait for me to push him in. Kash took control, forcing himself in with one deep thrust. A loud moan hit my lips, eyes rolling into the back of my head.

Dropping his head to my shoulder, he hovered above me on his elbows. Our bodies rocked and swayed, thrust to thrust, chest to chest.

Our breathing had synced up, each inhale and exhale fell in unison, as if our bodies had become one. Sweat dripped over my breasts, riding my curves to the mattress. Kash was breathing heavily, as my pussy eagerly sheathed his cock.

“Mm, Kash, harder, fuck me harder.” I was a live wire, waiting to be set free, waiting to be ignited.

His pace quickened, pump after pump, he thrashed inside me. His balls slapped against my ass as he lifted my hips with his hands. His grunts grew stronger, his body harder. With every thrust, his cock thickened as my walls milked the firm muscle.

I lost myself in that moment, lost myself in him. The world around me faded, hazy and blurry, nothing in that moment mattered except for us.

We became the air we breathed, we were the blood that flowed in our veins, we were meant to find each other.

My thighs began to tremble, lungs straining, nerves firing off bright, light-filled explosions. Fireworks lit behind my lids as I flew over the edge, pleasure took hold, and I shivered from my belly to my toes.

The orgasm came, jolting my nerves, and heating my body in one glorious explosion. And I came, repeatedly my pussy pulsed around his cock. With one final thrust, Kash's body went limp, his cock pulsing deep inside me.

Jerking his hips, he threw his body back. His throbbing cock emerged, glistening in my juice, as he held it firmly around the base. His hands wildly wrapped around my knee, pressing my thighs together.

A deep guttural moan lifted off his lips, cock spurting his milky cream all over my thigh, painting his mark on my flesh.

My hand flew to Kash's head, fingers dragging through his hair as the orgasm settled into pleasure overload. Laying under him, his head nuzzled into my neck, our chests still lifting in repeated breaths.

“Wow, Willow.” His words drifted over my ear, riding my brain.

“Oh my God, Kash. That was incredible.” My eyes flickered behind closed lids, tongue licking my lips to dampen the dried skin.

His body fell to the side, arm snuggling me into his chest. “You felt that, I know that time it didn't go unnoticed.”

“Felt what?” Giggling, I looked up at him under hooded lids. His eyes narrowed playfully, mouth pulling in tight. “Alright, I felt it that time. You got me, I can't ignore it now.” Slipping a single finger over his chest, I traced the thick lines. “Do these mean anything?” I asked.

“My tattoos...” Pausing, he lifted an arm and twisted it in the low light of my apartment. “Yeah, they all do. But my sleeves mean the most to me. It hides who I almost became.”

“What do you mean?”

What does he need to hide about who he is?

Monster... No, there's no way.

And even if he was, he's not now.

That's something I definitely feel.

“Nothing, let's leave that for another day, right now I want to bask in how great I feel.” Rolling to his side, Kash circled a finger over my tummy. “Willow?” He asked, eyes filled with worry.

“Yeah?”

“I have one more thing to ask you.”

What more could there be?

He had just asked for my heart, what else could he want?

“Okay, what's that?” My fingers ran over his forearm, following the strong muscle.

“I don't want you to walk past that old shop anymore.”

“What? Why not?” I asked, arching a brow.

His hand slipped under my neck, turning my face to his. “You need to move forward. If you go by there, then you'll just be living in the past, living in what you could have had. I don't want you to do that anymore. Tonight was all about the future, so don't put yourself through that. You're better than that place, you're amazing.”

I wasn't sure what to say. To hear the words that I was amazing, to hear the truth in his voice that he believed what he was saying... My stomach buckled, folding into itself.

For the first time in my life, I felt the words that someone had said. They didn't come out as just letters, they floated out on a cloud of sincerity.

I knew Kash was right.

The more time I spent thinking about what I lost, the harder it would be for me to keep going.

Tonight wasn't just a new beginning for me.

It was a new beginning for the world ahead, a new beginning for us.

One that I wanted filled with paintings.

One that I wanted complete with Kash.

He asked me to give him a chance to make me fall in love with him. What he didn't know was that he had already done that.

He won my heart the second he touched my skin.

I just needed more time before I could say it out loud.

Willow

T
he sun beat down across my cheek, bringing life to my sleeping body. Rubbing my eyes, it took me a second to realize who I should find resting next me.

Kash.

Oh crap. That happened, he spent the night.

It wasn't a dream... Was it?

My eyes shot open, blinking rapidly to force my head to clear.

It wasn't a dream. And now he's going to see me with smeared makeup and crusty lips.

Shuttering at the thought, I drove my fingers to my eyes, trying desperately to clean any leftover debris from under my lids. The last thing I wanted was to roll over and let him see the untamed mask of sleep against my face.

I can't scare him away yet.

Black streaks colored the top of my knuckles, small bits of glitter twinkled in my mascara's grave. Lifting my hand carefully and quietly to my hair, I attempted to smooth the craziness of my morning curls.

It didn't matter how I slept; or if I straightened, hair sprayed, and glued the shit down; the curls had a mind of their own during the night. And with the added effect of Kash fisting the roots wildly, I was sure I looked like the bride of Frankenstein.

Feeling semi confident I had done my best to conceal the morning mess, I took in a small excited breath. This was the first time anyone had slept in my bed.

My bed, he had stayed and let me fall asleep in his arms.

Who knew he could be so sweet.

Letting my hand fall behind my back, I swept my fingers over where he should have been. Only I felt nothing but cool sheet and crumpled blanket.

Wait...

Twisting and rolling to my back, I stared at the empty spot beside me. He was gone. But left in his wake was a single rose from the bouquet he brought, and a small note on the pillow.

A delicate smile spread across my face, cheeks flushing with escaped butterflies from my gut, flapping their wings against my skin. Lifting the note, I opened the single fold.

'Willow,

I have a meeting early this morning and you looked too beautiful to wake.

Meet me for lunch, 12:30, at Wilson park.

—Kash'

I felt, for lack of a better word, giddy. My lips danced into a happy, full smile, eyes squeezing shut with excited bliss. For the first time ever, my entire world felt like it had direction, like I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

The past wasn't my future. And I wasn't going to let my mind try and tunnel back to it, that part of my life was over. A new piece of my future had finally lit up in fresh sun beams, glowing and shining around the man who had changed me.

I felt... Accepted, complimented, full, loved.

I felt loved.

Was this what he meant that night?

Was this what the tattoo was supposed to give me?

But, I was by no means ready to say I loved him in actual air-filled words. There was so much of our lives we still needed to share.

There were questions driving like a freight train over my brain. Where did he grow up? When did he realize art and tattoos were his calling?

Does he have any siblings?

Parents?

What are his tattoos hiding?

Why did he call himself a monster?

So many questions needed answers. You can't fall in love with someone without knowing a little of their history...

Right?

Because no matter how much I kept repeating that over and over in my head, my heart was screaming that none of it was important.

My heart was in charge, it had turned off my brain and decided to take the lead. And I was going to let it.

Why?

Because it felt right.

Right like plants needed the sun, and fish needed water; right like air was needed to survive, and love needed a heart to fuel it.

And Kash was holding mine, clutching it so I wouldn't blow away.

It was nine in the morning, and I had a few hours till our lunch date.

What the hell am I going to do till then?

Scrunching my lips, I stared at the ceiling. There was one thing I needed to do, one last thing I thought would help to close off the past.

Hopping up out of bed, I slipped a pair of runners shorts on, and snagged a rose from the bouquet.

I knew I had told Kash I wouldn't go back to the burned shop. But I wanted one last look, one last chance to say farewell to the dream I almost had.

One last time, that's it.

Make your peace, and then move forward.

Everything he said was right, I just needed that one last moment to let it go on my own terms. I wanted to see the ash, feel the charred walls; and say goodbye to what was, and hello to what was about to come.

There were times in my life when goodbye was necessary, but denied. When I was removed from my mother's home, when they came and yanked me from my bedroom; no one cared to ask me what I wanted.

No one granted me the chance to tell her how I felt, to beg her to open her eyes to what she was about to lose.

And she never said goodbye, I never said goodbye.

She didn't even look at me.

Today, I was going to do both of those. See it, feel it, and let it go.

My fingers were white from the knuckle down, steely gripping the stem. The streets were packed today as usual, and yet no one even came close to connecting with me.

Not one shoulder, hand, knee. Nothing. The people continued to walk around me like I was wearing an invisible bubble that forced them five feet away.

I don't know if I'll ever get used to this.

To go from being nobody, to a figure that everyone knew and avoided, was bizarre. And today I realized just how much Kash had his hands in this city.

Walking by the small storefronts, I spotted things I hadn't noticed before. The same mark that was on my thigh was speckled around the different businesses.

There was a sandwich shop that had its sign hanging high on the large front glass window. The name, 'Seven's Subs,' was written in deep black old English, a very detailed image of a giant sandwich was stretched across the center. And in the bottom corner of that picture, Kash's signature.

The same went for the cafe on the corner, and Antonio's pizzeria. Every spot my eyes hit, it seemed like there he was.

His mark was all over the damn place.

Kash had revitalized the city, spreading his hand across every small business around. And what I came to realize was even the larger corporations had held his touch. The supermarket was riddled in signs with his tag, the franchise chain pharmacies all bore that same distinct symbol.

So that's how he made himself.

Here I had pegged him as a trustfund baby, a man who had endless pockets because of what his heritage allowed.

But I was wrong.

And because of him, my life around here was comparable to a star, a high end socialite, a woman that now held power.

I thought I should be welcoming this new found fame, the ease his hand was bringing to my life. People I didn't even know gave me gifts, held doors, free things were falling into my lap with intoxicating precision.

Instead, I felt like I was wearing a mask. A colorful depiction of strength that was really a facade, forgery by design.

These people weren't doing this because of something I did, it was because of their savior. The man who had swooped in and breathed life back into their business, it was his hand that gave me this easy pass.

The respect they had for him, the gratefulness they carried for Kash, was a carry over to me.

Each smile that was cast my way became less and less sincere, and more painted. Their faces wore lips turned up, but their eyes held a slither of discontent.

Maybe they looked at me like I was a leech, latching onto a man with money and power?

Did they think I had decided to walk this path, found the mine and heeded the gold for myself?