Billionaire: Billionaire Romance: Billionaire Tiger (A Billionaire New Adult Shifter Contemporary Romance) (51 page)

A few moments later we were sitting in our theatre box. My aunt looked around and said, “Where are the Collington’s? They are the ones that offered this theatre box and they assured me they would be here.”

I froze. Did she say Collington? That was the gorgeous gentleman’s name. I felt a flush come over me.

“Oh Mrs. Swanson! So good of you to come! How do you like the seats?” a voice said.

I turned to see Cliff Collington hovering over my aunt. I was mortified.

“Mr. Collington, thank you. It was a neighborly thing for you to do. This is my niece visiting me from St. Louis, Miss Mina Templeton.”

“A pleasure,” he said as he grabbed my hand and kissed it. He gave me a knowing flirtatious look.

“She has not seen much of New York yet as my ailments have been acting up,” my aunt said.

“Oh, well I have taking my cousin Larissa Marisse for a carriage ride tomorrow to see all the sights. Miss Templeton is welcome to join us,” he said to my aunt.

“Oh yes that will be delightful! Thank you sir. First the theatre and now this, you are too kind. As long as another female, your cousin is with you it shall be acceptable,” she said.

“Very well, I will call at noon Miss Templeton.”

Cliff looked at me and winked. He was up to something I could tell. He was a scoundrel and I kind of liked it. The lights lowered and the performance started.

Later that night in bed, I thought about the man Cliff Collington. I had been so turned on by him. I wanted him. He was gorgeous. Back in St. Louis I had become involved in scandal when I ran off with my beau. We were forced to become engaged after that, but the engagement was now off. However, I was not a virgin like most women, partly why I had to come to New York.

The next day I tried on every dress I had for an outing. I finally settled on a blue silk day dress and parasol. Right at noon the door bell rang. I ran to it. I opened it to see a valet standing there.

“A carriage for Miss Templeton from Mr. Collington,” he said.

I looked out the door and saw the carriage. Well, we were neighbors so there was no point in formalities. I yelled out, “Aunt I’m off with Mr. Collington and his cousin!”

“Very well dear!”

She yelled back. The valet opened the door and I climbed in. The carriage was empty. Where was everyone? I waited a good five minutes in the cold! Then the door opened and Cliff stepped in.

“Miss Templeton so glad you can make it,” he said as he hit the top of his carriage with his walking stick.

The carriage jolted forward and we were off.

“Wait! Where’s your cousin? Miss Larissa?”

“I have no cousin,” he winked.

I gasped. “You scoundrel! How dare you?”

“Very well, do you want to go back home or do you want to continue our ride through Central Park and New York to see the Christmas trees?”

I was silent. Then I finally agreed.

“I suppose since we are already going.”

Later, we were standing in front of a grand Christmas tree in the lobby of the grand museum.

“It’s beautiful!” I said as I went in for a closer look. There were all sorts of animal decorations, from turtles to zebras. They were made of the most delicate paper. Some of them were shiny and others were a matte paper, but they were all expertly done.

“There must be hundreds of them,” I said in awe.

“About five hundred,” he said, and then added. “So you like it?”

“Like? I love it. It’s absolutely fascinating. Thank you,” I said staring deeply into his grey, but now more blue colored, eyes.

“Good than I am off to a good start,” he said.

“It’s the best Christmas tree I’ve ever seen. Does that make you happy?” I flirtatiously said.

“Yes, it does. Come on let’s go to my office,” he said as he walked off further into the museum.

“Office?”

“Yes, I work here,” He said as he walked backwards a few steps to deliver that information to me.

I was pleasantly surprised. He definitely looked the part. I immediately got excited. I wanted him now more than when I first laid eyes on him. I scurried after him to catch up. As I placed myself along side of him at his pace of walking he made a cute side glance at me and smiled. My heart melted.

We arrived at a door that was labeled “museum staff only.” He used a key to unlock the door and we stepped into a quiet long hallway.

“This way.”

“Where are you taking me?” I said playfully.

He laughed and said, “I swear, it’s just my office. I know it’s a bit creepy in here cause it’s a massive place. But trust me.”

I laughed too. But I did trust him. For some reason, it felt like we had known each other forever even though we had only just met. Then we came to a vast staircase. We climbed two or three flights and finally came to a hallway with people about and offices. He showed me into his office. As soon as I stepped in I immediately fell in love with it. The wood was dark and heavy and a massive bookshelf full of old books covered an entire wall. There was a heavy oak desk in the middle of it that had piles of papers and specimens in glass jars. It was a true scientist’s office. He went over to the large windows and said,

“Come. Have a look.”

What other surprise could this gorgeous man have in store for me? I slowly walked over. When I got to the window I looked down. From this point you could see almost all of Central Park. I gasped at the sight.

“This is your view? It’s amazing. You are so lucky.”

“I know. It’s good right. The whole park lights up at night. I think it could fulfill some of your Christmas winter wonderland fantasies,” he said as he turned away from the window.

I looked at him. Who was this man? Why was he doing so much to please me or make me happy? It was more than I expected from any stranger. He must have seen the questioning look in my eyes, because he caught my gaze and held it. The chemistry between us was so thick it filled the room. I wanted to kiss him right then and there, but that was absurd. I barely knew this man for thirty minutes or less. What was happening to me?

CHAPTER TWO

We stood there at the window of his office. The surroundings were exactly what I wanted New York to be like. I was in the office of a historic New York building with the vastness of Central Park below us.

Cliff leaned in closer to me. His scent was intoxicating. His voice came down to a whisper and then he said, “Want to see it?”

“See what?” I stepped backwards a little.

“The museum,” he said as he motioned back toward the door.

“Oh, yes of course. I would love too.”

“I’ll just show you the highlights because you really could spend days in here.”

“I would like that, yes please,” I said enthusiastically.

For the next two hours, Cliff showed me around the museum. I was completely captivated by the passion he had in his voice when he talked about something that was on display. It was obvious that this was what he loved in life. It was contagious, and I soon found myself feeling enthusiastic about things I would normally find dull. He had a way of explaining it in a way that gave me a different perspective. It was eye opening. I wondered what else he could give me a new perspective on? I thought to myself. The immediate subject of love jumped into my mind. After suffering the bad engagement in St. Louis, I thought I could never feel the way I use to about love. That it is possible. That true unconditional love was possible. I had invested two years in that relationship, and I thought we were on our way to being married. It was a shock to find out, he had a completely different view of things. What was I getting myself into this time? This man was too gorgeous to be a one-woman sort of man and he already showed me he was a deviant scoundrel. Or so it seemed. Plus he worked at one of the most prestigious museums in the world. He was definitely a catch. The amount of attraction I felt when I met this man only minutes ago on the steps made me know that much.

Thinking those thoughts now, while being led around by Cliff, made me stop in my tracks. I just realized that I didn’t have the immediate sparks with my now ex-lover when I first met him two years ago. We had sort of just fallen into a relationship gradually. There was nothing even close to the sparks of electricity I was feeling now with Cliff. I felt those sparks the first time we locked eyes. Is this how it’s suppose to be? I just assumed those feelings were just fleeting feelings of lust that you couldn’t build anything meaningful on.

“Mina?”

“What?” I snapped out of it, and realized I was still standing frozen in place having my mind take over all of my body.

“Are you okay?” he asked putting his hand on my shoulder.

His touch set goose bumps down my entire body. I looked up at him. His eyes looked down at me with a real look of concern. It was enough to make me melt.

“Oh, yes, I’m fine.” I answered.

“Are you sure, you stopped and were kind of frozen in thought for a second,” he replied.

My, this man was observant. I guess a scientist has to be by nature. It was refreshing though to be with someone that acknowledged a change in emotions or change in my mood.

My heart warmed at his question. He was genuinely interested in my life, and I was eager to share it with him.

He listened intently to everything I had to say. We continued on our walk through the museum, yet we hardly noticed the pieces around us anymore. It was a non-date, date. I liked it because it was all happening so naturally with out the normal pressures of a planned first date.

I felt at ease with Cliff, but had butterflies in my stomach at the same time. It was hard to describe, but every time he looked at me I felt nervous and happy all at once.

“Sorry that took more time than it should have. Still want to go across to Central Park?” he asked.

“Yes, I do.” I said very confidently.

“Okay, let’s do it. First we need to make a stop,” he said as he led the way out the door.

A stop? I was intrigued by what this meant, but this man was full of surprises. I liked being surprised so I didn’t ask. I just followed. He walked down the massive steps and I followed closely behind. It had grown a bit dimmer outside. It was almost sunset, and I realized we had been in the museum for a long time. It had been several hours at least.

“I’m starving, do you mind if we grab some food and have a picnic in the park?” he asked.

I smiled a big brilliant smile. Was this man made specifically for me? Park picnics were my favorite and I preferred it to any meal in a restaurant at all times.

“That sounds like a perfect plan,” I said.

“Great,” he said as he led the way to a row of street vendors. He got croissants, pretzels, cured meats, fruits, and two coffees. When he was all done piling a bag of goodies onto his arm, he handed me a cup of coffee and said, “Shall we?”

His grin was spectacular. He was so proud of himself for being so clever, and I loved it. He wanted to please me and I wanted to be pleased.

We entered the park and the beauty of it took my breath away. Most of the trees had lost their leaves and their spiraling bare branches reached high into the sky. I understood how people could stroll the entire length of this massive park on a daily basis.

We sat down on a grassy area right near a long row of trees. Cliff laid out our buffet of New York street foods in front of us.

“That’s a lot of food,” I said.

He laughed and said, “Yes, well I couldn’t decide what your first New York park food should be so I got them all.”

“That’s very sweet,” I said as I looked up from the food at him. He looked back at me and smiled.

Minutes later we were in his carriage.

“Drive in circles around the park until I say otherwise,” he told the driver.

He sat next to me in the carriage and we continued to talk.

Then, he pressed his lips against mine.

He looked at me with those soulful eyes. He was just what I needed. A man I admired and desired to comfort me and distract me from everything that had happened with last engagement. I gave him a kiss. This one was on the mouth and was more passionate, and as soon as I did it feelings swamped over me. I needed this. I needed a distraction and I felt like a fool for falling for last fiance. He caressed my hand. “I couldn’t be with out you any longer. I needed to be near you and to touch you since the first time I saw you when you first arrived. I saw you that day when you first entered the door of your aunt’s house. I had been devising a plan to meet you ever since. That is why I offered the theatre tickets.”

“Did you?” I said playfully. “What did you want to touch?”

“I wanted to kiss you here,” he brushed his finger over my lips.

It was just what I wanted him to do, “And what else?”

“I thought about touching you here,” his hand slid over my neck and further down as he said, “And here.” His hand caressed over my breasts.

I moaned at his touch. My body ached to experience him.

“And this,” his fingers brushed over my lips and then he kissed me. I kissed him back with a fervor I didn’t know I possessed.

I positioned my hand on his back. It was firm and strong. I could feel his muscles move as I glided my hand down further and further. I reached forward and found his strong member. I rubbed the tip gently. He groaned and growled under my touch. His lips never left my neck. I wanted him to taste me. I wanted him to lick me. I groaned and twisted under him as he kissed and licked me. He pulled my dress up. I was completely his.

I couldn’t take anymore. He was slowly seducing me with his caresses and kisses, but I needed more. I rolled over on top of him and placed kisses on his neck and down his chest. I pulled his cock out of his pants to his surprise. His member was long and thick. It laid on his stomach and went well passed his belly button. I took it in my mouth and moved my tongue over it. I twirled it around the head and he moaned and groaned louder. I slid it back and forth in my mouth deeper and with longer strokes. I moaned on it and let the vibrations go through his member. I think this brought him to the brink because he picked me up effortlessly and had me straddle him. He pushed his long thick cock inside me. I sat back on it gently slowly letting it slide in to the depths of me. He grunted and groaned like an animal. I placed my hands on his chest to steady myself as I hovered over him. Then I lowered myself onto the tip of his hard cock and up again over and over.