Stingray Billionaire: The Complete Series (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (12 page)

“I’m glad you like it,” I
tell her. Trevor pulls up in front of the door.

Ellie lets herself out,
and I follow close behind.

The beach house is a
twelve-bedroom, seven bathroom villa right on the beach. I’m gearing up for a
tour, but as soon as I mention the house
has
four separate offices, a den, a library and a dozen rooms, Ellie says she wants
to do her exploring later.

“Thank you for this,” she
says as we come through the back doors and onto the sun deck. “I was starting
to go crazy in that room, and it wasn’t like I could leave. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I tell
her. “Take the next few hours and just relax. People won’t start showing up
until eight o’clock, so we’ve got a little while.”

 
I leave her to make the necessary calls for
tonight’s get-together—catering, some light entertainment. By the time I go back
to the main room in the center of the house, Ellie’s passed out on the couch. I
grab a blanket from one of the closets and place it
on
her.

I’d say I can only
imagine what she’s feeling, but the truth is I know
exactly
what she’s going through.

I wasn’t always a
billionaire, and for more than half my life so far, nobody knew who I was.
After Stingray’s IPO made me a billionaire, I barely left the apartment where I
was living for months.

The difference is that I
asked for it. She didn’t. All I can do now is protect her the best way I know
how.

For now, I just sit in a
chair across from Ellie and watch her sleep.

When the caterers arrive,
I lead Ellie to one of the bedrooms where she won’t hear all the commotion.

“I’m
sorry I’m this tired,” she says.
“I don’t even know why.
It’s not like I’ve been doing anything.”

“Stress does that to a
person,” I tell her. “Don’t worry about a thing, just get some rest. If you
want, I can cancel the—”

“No, it’s fine,” she says
through a yawn. “Wake me up when they’re here. I like knowing I’m not the only
one
who’s been
through this—
I
mean, I’m sure you have and everything. I
just meant—”

“Shhh …” I say. “Just
relax. I’ll let you know when they’re here.”

I leave the room just in
time to hear the doorbell ring.

“Oh, you’ve got to be
kidding me,” I mutter, looking down at my watch.

*
                   
*
                   
*

Apparently, what I call a
small get-together qualifies as the A-List party of the season, according to
Ellie. Luckily, that wasn’t a problem for her.

Now it’s about four in
the morning. Ellie and I are cleaning
up,
and she hasn’t stopped raving yet.

“Seriously, when Yon
Blacker came up to me and introduced himself, I almost died,” she says,
carrying a handful of dishes to the sink. “Did you ever see
Druscilla Lost
?” she asks. “That movie
changed my
life,
and there he was going
on about how big
of a pain in the ass
Tim
Tripp is to work with—” She ends the phrase with what I can only describe as a
prodigiously long grunt.

“Well, I’m glad you had
fun,” I tell her.

“By the way, I did get
quite a bit of advice about how to deal with the paparazzi, but nearly all of
it included some level of violence,” she says.

“That’s mostly venting,”
I tell her as I top off my third garbage bag of the evening. “The worst thing you
can do is go after a reporter. I guess Björk got away with it, but that was
an exceptional
circumstance. Frankly, that lady
had it coming, but I wouldn’t suggest it.”

“You know,” she says, “I
have to tell you, I’ve been wondering if there was any way we could make this
work. I like you, but I think we both know this isn’t my world.”

“What are you saying?” I
ask as my smile disappears.

“What I’m saying,” she
tells me as she gathers a few loose bottles from the counter, “is that I don’t
want to go back to Manhattan. I’m saying that I want to stay here at the beach
house, at least until
you’re done
in the
city. Naomi’s not going to be thrilled about it, but if anyone’s qualified to
solve the many,
many
problems that
come from being in a relationship with you, it’s you.”

I chuckle. “So, what are
you saying?” I ask again.

“I guess what I’m
saying,” she tells me, dumping the bottles in the trash, “is that I’m ready to
start thinking long term. I’ve been
half in
and
half out
of this relationship because
I just assumed it was going to end, but I think from the
outset
, you’ve been trying to show me that I
had it wrong. It just took me until now to see it.”

Nothing could chisel the
grin off my face.

Chapter
Nine

The Rising Tide

Ellie

The morning breeze is the
perfect accent to the morning as I lay myself down on the soft beach towel I’ve
set out on the deck. Last night, I convinced Nick to go in late to work, but I
just heard his alarm.

He’s done so much for me
over the short time I’ve known
him; I
decided to prepare a little surprise for him this morning. I’m still waiting
for Troy
to follow through with the bonus I’m
owed, but there are other ways I can surprise Nick.

Besides, what do you buy
a man who can buy anything?

The breeze is starting to
feel cold against my skin, but as the French doors open behind me, my body
heats up fast enough.

“Hey,” Nick says.
“Getting some sun?”

“Waiting for you,
actually,” I tell him, shielding my eyes
from
the sun
to look at him. He’s in a white bathrobe. “I thought I’d
surprise you.”

“Yeah?” he asks and sits
on the deck next to me. “Does the surprise have anything to do with you being
naked?” he asks.

I just grin.

Nick bends down to kiss
me on the
lips,
and I wrap my arms around
him and pull his upper body closer to me. My tongue greets his in a swirling
dance, and by the time I loosen my grip, we’re both breathing heavily.

“You remember last night
how I told you I was half in,
half out
before?” I ask.

“Yeah,” he breathes.

“I thought I’d start
making up for that this morning,” I say. “So here I am,” I tell him, sitting
up. “I’m all-in. No more holding back, no more closing off and I want you to
have me any way you want me.”

It’s an incredible boost
to the ego, making a man like Nick blush, but he’s not timid. He runs his
fingers through my hair and pulls me to him, kissing me with a kind of urgency
I’ve never felt.

He sets his other hand on
my knee and slowly glides it up the inside of my leg, toward my eager
heat
, but he stops just short, teasing my inner
thigh with his feathery touch. Just when it feels like he’s about
to go that last inch or two
, he pulls his hand
away and slowly rises to his feet.

“Well, well,” I say,
making quite the show of staring at the front of his robe.

He extends an open hand
to
me,
and I take it, using his aid to
rise to my feet.

Even though I checked
before I lost the bathing suit, I take a quick look up and down the beach,
making sure we’re well out of view of any neighbors. The coast is
clear,
and Nick is kissing the bend of my neck,
gently sucking the skin.

I set my hands
side-by-side on his chest and slowly move them downward, parting the front of
the robe as I go. The
robe
tie around his
waist comes apart
without difficulty
.

Nick kisses me on the
lips,
and I slither my arms around the bare
skin of his upper body, the flaps of his robe cocooning much of my body as I
press myself against him.

His erection is firm and
throbbing, resting against the skin of my abdomen, and I can’t wait to find out
what he has in mind.

Nick slips the robe from
his shoulders, leaving us bare, embracing. He looks down at me, saying, “You
look beautiful, by the way.”

“Thanks,” I say,
blushing. “It’s just a little something I threw together.”

His hands move down my
back. He leaves one hand to rest just above my ass, but the other keeps going
until he’s leaning to one side, encouraging me to raise my right leg with the
motion of his hand.

I do, and he guides my
leg
upward and around his body before returning
the hand to meet the other at the small of my back.

He slides his hands up my
sides and sucks on my earlobe while I angle my lower body just enough to get my
hand in between us, and
I’m
stroking him.

Nick slides his hands
down my sides once more and bends his knees a little. In a moment, I go from
caressing his magnificent cock to guiding it into me.

A wave of affection flows
through me as he penetrates my center, and I’m so wet he doesn’t need to be
slow about it.

I rest my arms on his
neck, bringing my hands around to hold the back of his head as he gently sucks
my bottom lip.

Nick’s hands move from my
hips to my ass, and in the next second, he’s lifting me off the ground. He’s
still inside me as he
turns,
so I’m
facing the ocean and positions himself on the towel.

He holds me there a
moment,
and I watch the ocean waves rolling to
shore as a different type of movement raises and lowers me, quivering over him.

Slowly, deliberately, he
lowers
us both down until we’re sitting, my
legs behind him, his behind me.

He slips one hand between
us, his palm against my skin, and he nestles his hand between my breasts before
delicately encouraging me back, back until I’m supporting myself, my hands on
the deck.

He leans back, mimicking
my position and as I come down on him again, his hardness fills me until I
don’t know if I can breathe with him so deep inside me.

“Hoy
shi
t,” I moan as we almost separate before
coming back together again.

He suppresses a smile,
and guides one of his hands up my leg as before, only this time, he doesn’t
stop until the pad of his thumb is massaging my clit in tiny, rapid circles.

I gasp and moan, because
I’ve lost the ability to breathe otherwise, and I swirl my hips, feeling him
press against every inch inside of me. His hand moves with me.

The sound of the waves is
growing
louder,
and I can feel the first
beads of sweat trickling over my bare skin. Nick lies back all the way, making
sure to let me get my feet out from under him as he does.

Riding him now, I gaze at
his muscular chest as it
heaves
before
me.

I lean forward, my hands
on his shoulders now, and our lips meet in an electrical spark that starts my
body quaking.

He keeps the rhythm under
his control, his hands on my hips.

That same wave of
affection I felt when we started floods back over me as that final sliver of
tension
breaks,
and I come so hard I can
hardly see the beach in front of me.

Nick’s abs tense beneath
me,
and I smother him with long, soft kisses as
he’s moving so fast now.

His hands leave my
hips,
and he pulls out of me. Grabbing himself
with one hand, he gasps as I feel his hot seed
fall
in ropes on my back.

I lay my head on his
chest as our bodies raise and lower with heavy breath.

I’m so relaxed, so
comfortable and safe in his arms, that I drift off for a moment. When I come
back to full consciousness, Nick has worked the towel most of the way from
under
him,
and he’s running it over my
back, cleaning me, drying me.

“I honestly think you
sent me into a different dimension there for a minute,” I tell him.

His body jerks beneath
me, and he starts laughing. “You startled the hell out of me,” he says. “I
thought you were still out—fantastic compliment, by the way.”

I chortle and pat him on
the chest as I rise to my knees.

Inside, I can hear the
phone ringing. I groan.

“I’m sorry,” he says.
“It’ll just be a minute.”

“It’s okay,” I tell him.
“Do what you need to do. I’m probably going to need a few before I’m able to
walk again properly
anyway
.”

We share a smile as I
lift myself the rest of the way to my feet. He collects the towel and heads for
the door while I walk over to stand at the railing above the beach to look over
the ocean.

Nick goes inside, but I
still feel the memory of his body so warm against mine. After a minute watching
the rise and fall of the seemingly endless Atlantic, I head in after him.

I’m on my way to the
nearest bathroom for a shower when Nick calls my name from another room.

I follow the sound of his
voice to the
kitchen,
and he holds up his
phone to me, saying, “It’s for you.”

“For me?” I ask. “Who is
it?”

“It’s your sister,” he
says.

Yeah, that sounds about
right.

I take the phone and put
it to my ear. “
Hey,
Na—”

“Where the hell are you?”
she asks. “You haven’t been home in like three
weeks,
and your cat is tearing up the house.”

“Yeah, Sammie’s kind of
an asshole if you don’t give him attention when he wants it,” I say.

“And is there any way to
keep your dog from getting in the trash?” she asks. “Seriously, I’ve tried
everything, but as soon as I turn my back, I hear that damn rustling again.”

“Have you been taking him
for walks?” I ask.

She groans. “You need to
get home,” she says. “I know I’m supposed to give you some leeway because
you’re paying the rent and all, but how long are you going to drag out your
rich-guy fantasy,
anyway
? You know you’re
all over the news, right?” she asks.

“I’m aware,” I sigh.

“Don’t let your Bohemian
sex trip become the only thing people ever know about you,” she says. “Besides,
how much longer do you think it’s going to last
anyway
?
Just come home. You’ve had your
fun. Now
it’s time to
get
back to the real world.”

Always a ray of
sunshine
, my sister.

“If you need me, of
course,
I’ll come
home
,” I tell her. “As for the rest of it, though, I’d say
Nick
and I are probably going to be together a
while, so you might want to get used to seeing my face next to embarrassing
captions at the checkout stands across the country.”

“You seem like you’re in
a good mood,” Naomi says with a lilt in her voice that almost sounds like
surprise
.

“I just told you.
Nick
and I made things official,” I tell her.
“We’re a couple. Seriously, though, I’ll talk to him and see when I can get
back there to take care of Max and Sammie.”

“Whoa, let’s not rush
into anything,” she says.

“What?”

“I didn’t know the two of
you were like a real thing; I thought he was just using you for sex while you
used him for money,” she says.

If only she could see the
one-sided smile creep up my face. The only real perk I’ve gotten out of her
studies into facial expressions is it’s a lot easier now to show her my
contempt. Of course, it doesn’t do much good over the phone.

“I think that’s the nicest
way anyone’s ever called me a prostitute,” I tell her.

She breaks into a loud,
overdone laugh. “Oh, that’s not what I was saying, and besides, you two are in
a relationship,” she coos. “This is such
incredible
news!”

“Seriously?” I ask.
“You’re going to try doing a one-eighty and just hope I don’t notice?”

“No, not at all,” she
says. “I was just trying to protect you because I misunderstood the kind of
relationship the two of you have. You set me straight, though. Ouch.”

She never kisses my ass
like this.

“What do you want?” I
ask.

“Me?” she asks. “Why
would I want anything?”

“Because you’re treating
me like I’m that extra
particular
type of
stupid,” I tell her.

“Oh, don’t be silly,” she
says. “You know, I never really got to meet Nick. The two of you left that
night so quickly I hardly got
to introduce
myself even
.”

“And here it comes,” I
narrate.

“What?” she asks. “You’re
my only sister. If I don’t look out for you, who will?”

“I’ve been doing all
right looking after myself,” I tell her.

She scoffs. “Yeah, I
can tell
from all the gossip columns with you
in the leading role,” she says.

She
does have a bit of a point.

“I take it you’re angling
for a flight out here?” I ask.

“Why, Ellie,” she starts.

I interrupt, “Oh, will
you stop with that?”

“Yeah,” she says. “When
can you get me out here?”

“Hold on,” I tell her.
“You can’t just leave Sammie and Max in the apartment all alone.”

“I can’t carry a golden
retriever,” she says. “Isn’t there anyone else who can watch them?”