CHAINED TO YOU: The Contract (2 page)

“You’re already wet,” he said with
amusement.

I blushed and quickly shoved away his hand.
Even if my body screamed how much it wanted him, I personally
refused to admit the obvious.

He laughed and said, “Is that how you treat
the birthday boy, Mia?”

I blinked and replied, “No.”

“Then how do you treat a birthday boy?”

He was looking at me now with that amusement
in his eyes again, which both irritated and enthralled me at the
same time.

“Be nice to him?” I pretended ignorance.

“Yes.” He grinned. “And give him cake… with
cream. A lot of cream.”

The way he spoke those words made me swallow
hard. I felt my core twisting and burning with need. I
involuntarily rested my hands on his powerful shoulders for support
because I knew I’d fall if I didn’t.

James wrapped one arm around the small of my
waist and pulled me close. He touched his lips against my right
nipple, lightly and gently, just a brush against my skin. That
little action caused me to melt into him. My knees buckled and I
leaned farther against him.

When he opened his lips and popped my nipple
into his warm mouth, I was almost done for. I clutched to him as he
sucked and then grazed and nibbled the sensitive bud. As he did so,
I closed my eyes and could only feel the glorious sensation
bursting within me. He did the same to the left one, and by the
time he was done, I was shaking and my breasts and nipples were
hard and glistening as wet as pink pebbles beneath running
water.

It was then he pulled me onto the bed and
made me lie below him. I followed him without resistance, and then
he was kissing my lips. When he urged me to open my mouth for him,
I obliged. He plunged in his tongue, exploring me, making me
breathless and out of sorts. I was quivering by the time he
finished ravishing my mouth. He didn’t let me go there either. He
continued his little kisses down my throat and lower and lower
south. As he licked and kissed and tasted me with his warm lips and
hot tongue, I closed my eyes and once again remember that first
time I met him three weeks ago.

It was a mistake to let Andy leave the
country, and I’d known it the moment he told me he’d be going.

“Better job prospects there,” he’d said.
“Friends of mine promised to find me a good one.”

A good one to Andy meant a job that would
offer very good pay and didn’t require any university
qualifications, since he didn’t have any. I wasn’t one to argue
though, since I didn’t have any either, and working as a kitchen
hand in a restaurant at minimum wage wasn’t something both of us
planned for the rest of our lives. Andy wanted to study business
and, one day, own his own big corporation with hundreds of
employees and a very cool office with an outstanding view, high in
the building. Me, I wanted to teach.

“You won’t have to work those shitty long
hours anymore, Mia. We won’t have to worry about money. You can
quit that pathetic job and say good-bye to that arsehole boss of
yours.”

“Pathetic job,” I murmured under my breath
as I stared out the small window to my right. “Arsehole boss.” I
hugged myself tight as I gazed at the view.

It was beautiful, with bright gold and
blues, and just below the plane, there were thick white clouds all
along the endless horizon. I’d always wanted to see this exquisite
scenery for real, since I’d spotted it in a beauty magazine I
bought from a secondhand bookstore. I even had the picture glued in
my notebook of places I wanted to go and things I wanted to do and
accomplish before I die. I’d also wanted to be in a plane, too.

At the moment, however, both were the
furthest from my mind. In a few hours, the plane would land, and
I’d be in Los Angeles, California—a place I’d never been to before
and hadn’t even wanted to visit. Paris, Tokyo, and Rome were the
cities I desperately wanted to see. Not Los Angeles. Never Los
Angeles. And the fact I didn’t know where I was going or what I’d
be doing there really worried me. No, that wasn’t true. What
really
worried me was I wouldn’t know who I’d be facing and
how the hell I’d be getting Andy out of his mess.

During the next few painstakingly slow
hours, I remained paralyzed, seized by fear of the unknown. Fear of
what would happen to Andy if I couldn’t help him.

“Andy,” I murmured. “Why?”

He’d been such a good little brother. I
understood it had been hard for him since the death of our parents,
as it had for me. Understood shit happened in everyone’s life,
though it seemed to happen a lot more for us. But we had to carry
on living, didn’t we? And Andy? He was just that gullible, more
than the most gullible person on the planet. I’d known that, yet
I’d let him go. Allowed the wolves to have a taste of him, to play
and dance with him. And now he was stuck, and I didn’t know how I
could save him.

At the moment, I knew I was charging forward
blindly. The wolves, these billionaire businessmen who didn’t
hesitate to play dirty, were who I would be dealing with.

“Maxwell.” I said the name softly under my
breath, a shiver passing down my spine. Even the name itself
radiated power, and it scared the hell out of me.

All I’d gotten was a phone call from Andy
and then an email—
a threatening email
—from a man simply
called
J. Maxwell
. That email was short and to the point.
Even now, I felt a little dizzy thinking about it.

Ms. Donovan,

I would like to inform you that your
brother, Andy Donovan, has done a very unwise thing. He and his
friends have swindled and lost two million dollars of mine in a
gamble. He is currently under our protection. Negotiation between
us is prudent, and I urgently advise you to make an appointment to
meet me.

J. Maxwell

The bastard had made it sound like he was
the police with the words
protection
and
negotiate
.
But then again, Andy and his
so-called friends
had swindled
millions from the billionaire, and now, it was my job to replace
them. Once again, the number of zeros following that two made my
head spin. How the heck was I supposed to supply two million US
dollars?

The plane landed, and I found myself
shuffling through thousands of people I didn’t know. I tried to
pass them as quick as I could, clutching my backpack close to me. I
knew I looked like a fish out of water here, and those staring at
me with
the
look
were evidence of that. I didn’t care
though. I had a mission to accomplish, and their judgement wasn’t
going to faze me.

I sighed with some small relief once I was
outside where there were less people to encounter. It was hot. So
hot in fact I had to take off my jumper. I knew I had to take the
bus into town because a taxi was way too expensive, and I couldn’t
afford that, what with only three hundred bucks cash in my
wallet.

I jumped into the bus a few minutes later,
and after paying my fees, I settled in a lone seat, placing my
backpack on my lap in front of me. I kept to myself throughout the
whole journey. When the bus stopped in town, I took another up to
Beverly Hills and then another one farther out. This took me
another hour, and by the time it stopped at the very end of the
route, I was exhausted and thirsty.

Out on the rather deserted street lined with
big mansions that both terrified and amazed me, I took out the
Google map I’d printed out and peered at the white, neatly folded
piece of paper. The glare was getting to my eyes, so I moved
around, trying to find a bit of shade. My finger followed the line
of roads on the map as I muttered to myself, “Where am I? Where am
I?”

An angry, long, loud beep blared from the
distance. Tires screeched against asphalt. I lifted my head, and my
eyes rounded with dread. Panic sized me the moment I saw the car
heading toward me. I reacted by staggering back, just in time, as
the vehicle came to a sudden halt inches from me.

I fell on my backside, my heart pumping loud
and fast. I was still paralyzed with fright when the door of that
expensive car opened. Shiny black shoes landed on the pavement,
followed by clean black trousers.

I watched, suddenly fascinated as that pair
of shoes came my way. They stopped right in front of me, as if
waiting patiently for me to lift my head. And I did. My eyes slowly
drifted up to the long legs trousers and then to the slim waist and
expensive-looking pale-blue shirt and dark jacket, and then… My
breath was taken away the moment my eyes met his.

Strong, aquiline nose, deep-set eyes,
prominent jawline, and dark hair—this was the type of face found in
fashion magazines. The male models in ads for perfume and expensive
suits. The type that was out of my reach. The rich, expensive type
that every girl drooled over and dreamed of dating.

He was the type that scared the shit out of
me, and he was doing so right now. My breathing became shorter and
faster. At that moment, I just wanted to run. My legs, however,
seemed to have become numb, and I couldn’t command them to
move.

The handsome stranger made my condition
worse by coming down to one knee. I was surprised he actually
allowed those expensive, clean trousers to touch the dirt.

When he faced me, I swallowed.

Prussian blue. The color of his eyes. Dark
yet bright, with an ominous feel to them. A shade of blue that had
fascinated me since I was a child. It was the shade of the sky I’d
seen when I opened my eyes that day many years ago, my whole body
aching in agony and my bones broken. The sound of sirens and people
shouting, asking me if I was all right. I’d never been all right. I
was dying from a car accident. And they asked me, a child of
twelve, if I was all right.

I flicked my mind back to the present, to
the man in front of me, and bit my dry lip. I subconsciously licked
them—a mistake. His Prussian blue eyes drifted to my lips, and
suddenly, my whole body reacted in a way it had never reacted
before.

It flared with heat and delicious sensation
coursed through me, making me almost breathless. I was trembling
more fiercely than I had when I’d thought the car was going to hit
me. My whole body trembled beneath his stare, at the sudden
electrical sparks that charged and pulsated between us.

He narrowed his eyes—against the glare of
the sun or a knowing sign, I didn’t know which. When he grinned at
me, one that would take any girl’s breath away, I knew it was the
latter. He was way too handsome for my peace of mind. It was a
crime for such a man to exist. He was too much.

“Are you all right?” he asked, his timbre
deep.

A thrill rushed down my spine. I tentatively
nodded and wished he’d just up and go.

He didn’t, which both angered and pleased me
at the same time. At that moment, I didn’t understand my own
feelings. Yes, I wanted him to leave me alone, but at the same
time, I didn’t want him to go.

He surprised me by wrapping one large,
strong hand over my arm. I jolted at the touch, and my whole body
went into a frenzy of sensation, a whirlwind of heat.

He pulled me along as he stood, and I
mindlessly followed. My head barely reached to his massive broad
shoulders. I swallowed as I stared at his shirt.

“Don’t walk into the road without looking if
you don’t want to get hit,” he said.

I nodded, still not looking at him.
“Thanks,” I said, stepping back. I felt his hand releasing me, his
warmth leaving me.

I turned, picked up my backpack, and gave
him a small smile. I saw him cocking his head to one side before
turning away. I was still trembling when a few moments later I
watched his car speed by.

The moment Whitney and her new boyfriend
stepped into the ballroom, I wanted to get the fucking hell out of
there. My hands fisted tight as anger threatened to erupt to the
surface, destroying my calm exterior. Having had years of
experience with emotional control, I immediately slammed down the
fury inside me with the force of cold logic. Getting pissed with
her would bring me nothing but wasted energy on useless
emotions.

“What the hell is she doing here?” Scott, my
younger brother, hissed. “I thought she was in Rome.” He was
staring at my ex-wife, dressed to the nines. She was still
breathtakingly beautiful, I’ll admit, but that beauty was now
tainted in my eyes.

“How should I know?” I said calmly. “We’re
divorced.”

Eric, my youngest brother, snorted. “The
bitch does know how to turn the party sour.”

“You okay, bro?” Scott asked.

I nodded. Leaving the party now wouldn’t
look good, and everyone would know it was because of Whitney. Hell
if I’d let anyone think that. This alliance with the Worthingtons
was too important to let this small inconvenience destroy the hope
of a business contract between our two powerful families.

“The boyfriend looks as young as that kid
Andy Donovan,” Eric said.

I flicked my gaze to the new boyfriend. Eric
was right. He looked as young, naïve, and gullible as Andy Donovan,
the boy who’d been deserted by his
so-called
friends when
they’d stupidly swindled and lost my two million in a gamble.

“Speaking of Andy,” Scott asked. “What the
hell did you do to him?”

“Gave him a good talking to,” I said coldly.
Of course my brothers knew what that meant. “He’s with Matt.”

“Shit! James,” Eric said in disbelief. “Why
the hell did you give the kid to Matt? He’ll fuck the shit out of
the boy.”

I didn’t disagree with that. Matt Caine
preferred males for bedmates, not that I ever thought anything was
wrong with that. After all, he was one of my best men as well as a
good friend. Of course, Andy was just Matt’s type. I could tell the
moment the man saw the boy.
Sparks!
Funny how I’d never felt
any spark with Whitney.