Billionaire Romance Boxed Set (9 Book Bundle) (48 page)

He
loved me.

It wasn
’t a dream
anymore, not another fantasy I had imagined in my head. He said that he loved
me, and meant it. Air stopped moving through my chest; I had forgotten how to
breathe.

He came back with a notebook I
took carefully in my hand. His eyes were kind, and despite the horror of the
past day I trusted him to keep me safe. He looked at me as though he expected
me to say something, but I turned my head down to the mathematics. I did not
want to break the delicate bond that had stretched out between us by talking
about it too much. In any case, I did not know what to say.

We worked for an hour, and then
he fixed me breakfast. As I waited for him to return, my chest tightened with
fright and did not relax until he came back into the room. I could not eat very
much, only a bit of bread and honey. The honey tasted sickeningly sweet in my
mouth, and I gulped down water to relieve the stickiness of it.

Tucked under Eliot’s arm was a
record; he placed it on the old-fashioned player in the corner of the room.

“I thought we could use some
inspiration,” Eliot said. I closed my eyes and heard the familiar strains of
the Gymnopedie amplified in the air.

“Do you want to take a break?”
Eliot sat next to me, moving my half-eaten plate to the nightstand.

“No,” I said. “I mean, maybe
just for a minute.” I put my hand over his, praying that I was not too
presumptuous. My heart soared when his fingers twined themselves into mine. We
rested, listening to the dissonant chords, the elongated coda, the resolution
in the last few phrases.

“Brynn.”

“I love you too,” I said,
turning my eyes down to my notebook. My heart twisted inside my chest. I had
never allowed myself to hope, but Eliot was here and real and not at all a
fantasy.

“Are you reading that out of
your notes?”

“Sure am,” I said, chuckling
lightly. “Right under the section on equivalence relations.”

“Is love an equivalence
relation?” Eliot put on his serious lecturer’s voice, and I could not help but
laugh.

“You tell me.”

“What does it mean to be an
equivalence relation?” Eliot asked me, leading me on.

“It must be symmetric,
transitive, and reflexive.”

“Let’s take the first one. If
love has the symmetric property…” His silence hung purposefully, and I
swallowed at his meaning.

“If I love you, then you love
me.”

Eliot’s lips turned up into a
sly smile.

“Not always true, but it is in
this case. Carry on. The transitive property.”

I only had to think for a second
to find an example. “If I love you, and you love Satie, then I love Satie.”

Eliot laughed appreciatively.
“And don’t you love him?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent. Two of three
already. And now?”

“Now…”

“The reflexive property.”

I swallowed. My voice was softer
than before. There was only one example possible here, and I did not know if I
could bring myself to say it until I opened my mouth, turning my head back to
the notes.

“I love myself.”

“Yes?” Eliot took my hands in
his; his blood pumped fast through his veins and his skin was hot on mine.

“Yes,” I said, and for the first
time in a long, long time, I really did.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Perfect numbers, like
perfect men, are very rare.” - Descartes

Eliot insisted that Brynn take
her time before getting up and about, and while she protested, he could tell
that she was glad for the forced rest that day. He made her a hot tomato bisque
for lunch and stayed by her side when she napped. Her dreams were fitful, and
she woke up with a scream.

“Where is he?”

“Who?”

“The hunter! Where is he? Where
is he?” Her eyes were wild.

“Shh, Brynn, it’s alright. He’s
gone, remember?” Eliot smoothed her hair with his hand and kissed her forehead.

“He’s gone?”

“Gone far away. You’re safe
now.”

Brynn swallowed water from the
glass at her bedside table, her eyes still troubled and distant.

“Can I do anything?” Eliot
asked. Brynn shook her head and lay silent for a moment, her breathing
returning to normal.

“That book,” Brynn said finally.
“The one you’re reading. It has an English title.”

“It’s poetry,” Eliot said. She
was so attentive. “It’s one of the first books I was able to read in English.”

“Will you read me something?”

Eliot began to object, but
thought better of it. He brought the book over to her side and flipped to the
last page he had been reading. Self-consciously he began to speak, but as the
poem went on his voice fell into a natural speaking rhythm. Brynn closed her
eyes to listen.

“When you are old and grey
and full of sleep,

And nodding by the fire, take
down this book,

And slowly read, and dream of
the soft look

Your eyes had once, and of
their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments
of glad grace,

And loved your beauty with
love false or true,

But one man loved the pilgrim
soul in you,

And loved the sorrows of your
changing face;

And bending down beside the
glowing bars,

Murmur, a little sadly, how
Love fled

And paced upon the mountains
overhead

And hid his face amid a crowd
of stars.”

“That’s beautiful.” A tear had
slipped down Brynn’s cheek, and she wiped it away with her finger. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you.” He put his
hand on hers. “Even a poorly done poetry reading.”

“Can I ask you for something else,
then?” Her voice was thin, tired. Scared, maybe.

“What is it?”

“Will you hold me? Here, in
bed?”

A strand of hope wound itself
around Eliot’s heart: that he was not doing things entirely wrong this time,
that he might do some good or be some good to her, that his guilt might be
assuaged. He lay down next to Brynn and she turned into him, pulling herself
tight against his chest. His mouth went dry when he felt her soft curves touch
him alongside his entire body. His arms encircled her protectively, shielding
her from the rest of the world.

Brief as it was, his kiss
against her forehead was meant to be kind, warm. She lifted her head and he
tumbled headlong into her gaze. If he had a soul, it was burning now, set
aflame by the desire he saw in her eyes.

“Eliot?” Brynn’s hand was on his
chest, her fingers toying insistently with his shirt button. She did not take
her eyes away from his.

Eliot took her hand in his,
clasping it chastely. His eyes asked a question and hers answered. Answering
her longing, he bent down and seized her lips against his.

“Oh!” Brynn let out a soft moan
as Eliot deepened the kiss, shifting himself toward her on the bed. He waited
for her to respond, taking each step slowly, carefully, until she accepted his
advances with her sighs, her fingers clutching at his arms tightly, pulling
him.

“Let me know when you want to
stop, Brynn.” Eliot’s lips moved against her cheek.

“I will.”

“Anytime. Let me know.” Eliot
did not want to hurt her, and especially not after what had happened. If he
stepped over the line…he shuddered to think of the pain she had suffered
through.

“Eliot. I will.” She leaned
forward and kissed him, pulling him into her arms. Giving up any pretense of
resistance, he pressed his body to hers. The soft curves under the robe moved
against his palms, sending him into such an aroused state that for a moment he
forgot to breathe.

She broke the kiss and his heart
began to beat again. He ran his fingers under the edge of her robe at the
collar by her neck. Lips pursed, Brynn watched him intently as he moved his
hand down along the curve of her breast, his fingertips just grazing the
silhouette of her figure. Down, down to the navel, where he hit the line of her
panties. He edged alongside the elastic, trailing his fingertips over her skin,
and pushed back the heavy velour robe at her hip, exposing her breast and the
line of her body.

“Such wonderful curves…”

“Eliot,” Brynn said, and he
paused, looking back up at her face. There was a kind of curiosity in her face
that he could tell was fighting with some doubt. In a blink of her eyelashes,
though, she brushed it away.

“I want you,” Brynn said.
Eliot’s heart swelled in his chest and he raised her hand to his lips, kissing
her fingers.

I didn
’t
know what I was doing, inviting Eliot into bed with me, but once he held me in
his arms every misgiving that I had disappeared. His touch possessed me
completely, but he went slowly, carefully, so that I was soon vibrating with
anticipation. When the robe slipped off of my body, I held my breath. I was not
perfect, far from it, but I wanted Eliot to see me entirely, to see every
imperfect part of me. The fear of rejection, the doubt that I carried inside of
me, made me tense with uncertainty, but I ached for him to take me.

He touched me tenderly, his
fingertips marking their way slowly among my curves.

“So many beauty marks,” he said,
smiling, his fingers pausing at my hip.

“Moles,” I said, looking down at
the place he had paused. “Those there form a constellation.”

His mouth curved as he recognized
the pattern from the night sky.

“Orion?” he ventured. I nodded.

“Are there more?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure.”

“We’ll have to find them all,
then,” he said. He kissed me again, and I forgot all of my doubts, all of my
fears. I only wanted him to stay with me forever.

He kissed me on the neck, his
warm breath melting me into nothingness. His lips felt soft and hot against my
skin as he moved down to my shoulder, following the line of my collarbone. When
he began to move farther down I placed a hand on his arm. He stopped.

“Wait,” I said. “It’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair?”

“I’m completely naked,” I said,
blushing as the words came out. It was the first time I had been naked in
front of a man, but with Eliot I felt that it was completely right.

“And?”

“And you have entirely too many
clothes on.”

“Is that so?” I saw a flash of
hesitation in his eyes. “Well. If the lady insists.”

“I do.”

He unbuttoned his shirt slowly
and pulled it off. My breath caught in a soft gasp. The scar on his face was
not the only one he had. His muscled arms and chest were covered in long,
jagged white seams that puckered his skin. The longest one reached from his
shoulder to his waist in a diagonal bolt over his chest. I reached out to touch
it. His eyes tracked mine as they lingered on his skin.

“I’m sorry,” I said. I did not
know what else I could say. He shook his head.

“All reminders,” he said. I
remembered what he had told me in the piano room, back in California.

“A reminder to be careful,” I
whispered.

He leaned over me and kissed me
on the lips.

“I’ve been careful for long
enough, I think.”

His mouth moved down to my neck,
his teeth grazing my shoulder and sending shocks of pleasure running through my
nerves. I ached for him as he bent his head down to my breasts. As his tongue
slipped over my nipple, I could feel myself growing slick between my legs,
wanting him. I had never felt such a rush of desire as when he circled my
breast slowly with his tongue and grazed the sensitive tip with his teeth. A
scream tore up my throat and stopped there, strangled before it could leave my
mouth.

Eliot felt hard against my leg,
and I did not realize what it was until I slid my leg slightly underneath him
and he gasped. A newfound sense of power swept through my body as I realized
that he was in some small way under my control.

In retaliation, he sucked on my
nipple hard and I gasped as pain and pleasure entwined together. I froze as his
fingers slid over my thigh, nearing my virginity, and he sensed my hesitation.
His body hung above me and his fingers curled back on themselves quickly as
though he’d touched a hot iron.

“We can stop, Brynn.”

“No,” I said, the word escaping
my lips before I even thought to speak. My desire had taken control of me and I
was no longer able to press down on the feelings that had been threatening to
escape since the first time I set eyes on him. “Please, no.”

He hesitated, and I continued
softly, embarrassed that the truth should be spoken out loud.

“I want you… God, Eliot, I want
you so badly.”

His eyes went wide, and I
thrilled again at the thought that I could surprise him in that way. He bent
his head and kissed me on the shoulder, whispering in my ear.

“You’re amazing, Brynn.”

My heart and body both yearned
toward the man whose breath warmed my neck, the man whose chest was
crisscrossed with the tragic reminders of a love he could never bring back. I
could not erase the scars or the memories, but I could help him to look
forward, and we could both move on from our pasts.

Unassuming and quietly confident,
Eliot sat up on the side of the bed and pushed down his pants and underwear at
the same time. Turning again to a kiss on my shoulder, he let me see him naked
for the first time. If there had been a mirror in front of me I’m sure my eyes
would have been perfectly circular with awe and curiosity. His member stood
erect, so large that I couldn’t see how it would fit into me. Without thinking,
I reached out and touched it in wonder. The skin was so soft, smooth, and as my
fingers stroked the tip lightly he twitched under my hand. I drew my hand back.

Eliot must have seen my
expression.

“I told you, slowly,” he said.
“Tell me if it hurts.”

He reached over to the bedside
drawer, obscuring the light. When he turned back to me he was sheathed in a
condom. His eyes filled with stormy desire and when he placed his hand on my
breast my heart pounded against his palm. He kissed me on the nose, his
erection grazing my hip. I felt myself twist toward him instinctively.

“I’ll take my time, Brynn, but
if you want me to stop, just say the word.”

I was frightened in the best
kind of way, amazed that he still wanted me now that I was naked and he could
see all of me. Amazed that the two of us should be here, together, under the
silken drapes of the canopy bed in a castle. The candlelight flickered as a
draft whispered through the room. If he’d wanted to make me feel like a
princess, he’d done an admirable job of it. Every part of this seemed like a
dream.

He bent his head down again to
my chest, this time sliding his hand between my thigh as he suckled my breast.
I whimpered as his fingers stroked me on either side of my most sensitive area.
A rush of lustful power shot through me in increasing intensity as his fingers
moved closer and closer. Each lick of his tongue mirrored the strokes of his
hand, and when he finally circled the hard nub of my nipple with his tongue I
was ready to explode in ecstasy.

Eliot stopped his fingers
withdrawing abruptly, and an agonized cry rose from my throat.

“Incredible,” he whispered. I
could do nothing but watch in a paralysis of lust as he moved over me, gently
sliding between my legs. His fingers found their way to my core again, this
time slipping down and inside me as his lips kissed mine in soft insistent
motion. The pressure, so intensely shocking, had disappeared, replaced with the
slick movement of his fingers testing my depths. He looked at me, and his face
was a question I could only answer one way.

“
I want you, Eliot.
” I
moaned as Eliot shifted himself to slide inside of me. The cold air of winter
had been replaced by springtime’s blushing warmth, and my entire being
blossomed with heat as he gave me my new womanhood. His lips hovered inches
from mine, our breaths mingling between our bodies, and he paused there, at the
crux, letting my body adjust itself to the lovely invasion that sent thrills
through every single nerve I had.

The first thrust of his seemed
to fill me completely, but but as he moved I could feel myself adjusting,
stretching to accommodate his girth. A fiery pain shot through me, replaced
almost instantly with a rush of pleasure as he bore his body down to
accommodate my most sensitive place.

“Oh God! Eliot!” My cries caught
in my throat as he worked himself deeper inside of me.

“Brynn?” He paused.

“Yes
,” I
said, pulling him tight against me. He couldn’t stop now. In my mind I heard
the sharp strains of the Satie building into a climax. The secret part of me
that I had kept hidden burst forth in a frenetic desire, and my body arched
itself against his.

We found each other anew as our
bodies came together in twin passion. Eliot’s hands caressed me, his lips
tearing the breath from mine. He rocked faster and faster, his breath hot
against my skin. I found his rhythm and matched it, my body responding despite
myself. Normally I lived in my head, but right now my mind was lost in the wild
rhythm of our lovemaking, every animal sensation too raw to comprehend on an
intellectual level. I moaned passionately as he found an angle that sent my
nerves into sharp thrills.

He thrust deeper and deeper,
sending shocks of pleasure coursing through my body with each connection.
Inside of me my desire rose in waves that came close to crashing down on me but
stopped at the last instant, each wave building on the last in an intense agony
of lust. My fingers scrabbled at his back, pulling him deeper inside of me. I
wanted more,
more
.

Every second stretched into
infinities, the flickering light dancing shadows on the walls. His lips caught
mine and sucked at my bottom lip as he thrust, and I felt the wave push past
the crest and over, the desire surging through my body echoed by his own.

“Brynn
.” He
groaned, calling my name. I could feel him pressing to his edge and it sent me
over mine as he rocked into me once more.

Waves of orgasm rocked my body
and I clenched my eyes shut, sparks of white passing over my vision even in the
darkness as the shudders passed through me. The sparks whirled around, turning
from snowflakes into burning embers as the shocks of pleasure rolled over my
body and I twisted, writhing under the first man to love me, to make me love
him.

He orgasmed only moments after
me, his muscles stiffening above my hips as he spasmed once, again. I did not
know what had happened until he moaned, his eyes rolling back in pleasure. His
lips pressed against my shoulder hard as he thrust one last time, sending me
into another wave of ecstasy. My knees buckled as the shivers continued through
my arms and legs, and I crumpled my hands against his chest.

Eliot’s lips fluttered soft
kisses on my cheek, his hands caressing me in compete possession. I gazed up
into his face and smiled, tears springing unbidden to my eyes. After pressing
another kiss to my lips, he rolled off to one side and rearranged himself,
circling his arm around my body and bringing me close to him. My ear pressed to
his chest, I could hear his heartbeat sounding quick and hard against his skin.
Slowly, carefully, his long fingers stroked my hair.

“Thank you,” I said. “For
bringing me here. For everything.” I tilted my head up to see his face, and his
kind eyes gazed back at me.

“It’s been a pleasure,” Eliot
said, his lips pressing briefly onto the tip of my nose. “Everything.”

“Even the damn cat?”

“Especially the damn cat. He can
stay.”

I laughed. “I’m glad you’ve
changed your mind about him.”

“I haven’t changed my mind about
him. I’ve changed my mind about you.”

“Oh?” I raised my eyebrow in a
question.

“No, that’s not what I mean. I
was scared to risk anything with you.”

“Am I so risky?”

“Yes. But I had everything to
gain from the risk.”

His heartbeat was slowing in my
ear, but I still felt as though every nerve inside of me was shivering.

“What’s going to happen? After
the internship ends, I mean?” We only had weeks until I had to go home,
graduate, and start my life. I didn’t want it to be over.

“I don’t know, Brynn,” he said.
“What would you like to do?”

“I’d like to keep studying
math,” I said firmly, then laughed at myself. Out of everything, that was the
first thing that leapt to mind.

“The academy has wonderful programs,”
Eliot said. “Of course, with the paper you’ll be publishing soon, I’m guessing
you’ll have offers from any grad school you decide to attend.”

“Paper?” My heart beat faster.
It was unheard of for professors to share credit with interns.

“Of course. Did you think I was
going to let you slack off in your last days here?”

I kissed his skin in response,
letting my hands move freely across the raised marks on his chest. When I
reached his face, he looked serious, like he had when I first saw him sitting on
the bench in front of the library cafe.

“Thank you,” he said. His hands
moved in small gasps along my back.

“For what?” My voice caught as
his hand found the small of my back and pulled me against him.

“For helping me…to know I can
live again. For helping me to find love.”

“You’re the one who found me,” I
said. “Even though you didn’t know my name.”

“That’s right,” Eliot said. “I
had forgotten. A temptress who runs away to hide from me. What have I gotten
myself into?” He smiled.