The Billionaire Bad Boys Club (17 page)

“Great,” Rebecca said, returning her gentle grip. “Maybe I could meet you up there.”

The minute she disappeared, Zane came over and kissed her.

“Mmph,” she said, pushing at his chest as she tried to fight the inevitable melting of her spine. Zane’s kiss was comprehensive, to say the least. “Zane, I want to talk to you.”

“I know.” He angled his head for another sleek penetration, which she admitted she enjoyed. He pulled back and smiled. “Now that you’re not so tense, maybe you’ll listen to what I say.”

She
was
more relaxed, especially since his big hands were smoothing up and down her back. It didn’t hurt that the kiss had affected him. A definite bulge nudged her from behind his pants.

“All right,” she surrendered. “Explain yourself.”

“Sybil is aware your budget isn’t as big as some. As long as you don’t go crazy and snap up everything she brought, you’re not liable to break the bank. And, much as I hate to restrain myself, I’m only asking you to accept one small gift from me in return.”

“Zane. That isn’t— I can’t—”

“I know. “ His smile was warm, his blue eyes seeming to glow with genuine affection. “Accepting gifts from men you barely know isn’t appropriate. Please just indulge me this little bit.”

“
Zane
.” Her treacherous hands rubbed his chest, the muscles of which felt awesome beneath the navy silk shirt he wore.

“Think how much time you’ll save shopping this way,” he coaxed. “And how much surer you’ll feel about your purchases once two people have approved.”

“That,” she said, “really is dirty pool.”

He smiled unrepentantly. “Go upstairs. I’ll wait here for the fashion show.”

He pushed his luck by swatting her bottom.

“Do not try that again,” she warned, shaking her finger. Zane’s expression was angelic.

Upstairs, in a hallway paneled with dark wood and hushed by a thick carpet, she counted five cabin doors. The final one on the left was ajar. Striding toward it, she grumbled about Zane’s highhandedness . . . at least until she saw the clothes that lay on the bed.

Zane must have given Sybil instructions. Everything the shopper had selected was a transformed version of Rebecca’s everyday work wear. Dark pants and skirts were paired with light-colored button tops. The difference was that the styles and fabrics were heaps nicer.

“Silk,” Rebecca said unsurely, stroking one pale blue shirt. The cloth felt delicious against her fingertips.

“It’s washable,” Sybil assured her. “And you can wear a camisole under it. I also brought a selection of accessories. Dress up any of these outfits with jewelry, and you can go anywhere short of a formal ball. That shirt you’re touching certainly suits your fair coloring.”

Tears stung Rebecca’s eyes. This was so thoughtful . . . and so smart! She looked helplessly at Sybil, unable to say a word.

“Why don’t I select a combination you can start with?” she said.

All the clothes Rebecca pulled on fit. More than that, everything flattered her.

“He guessed my size,” she blurted, twisting back and forth in front of the full-length mirror.

A moment later she realized Zane must have scads of practice guessing women’s measurements.

“Would you like to model this outfit for him?” Sybil suggested politely.

“Oh no,” Rebecca said, braced by the reminder of who Zane was. “That’s too damn
Pretty Woman
. If you think these clothes are all right, that’s good enough for me.”

Sybil might have hid a smile as she helped her remove the blouse again.

In the end, Rebecca chose five outfits, a simple cultured pearl necklace, and two pairs of low heels she expected her calves would tolerate. Sybil presented her with the total and accepted her credit card. If she noticed Rebecca’s tiny wince, she was too tactful to let it show.

The shopper had been professional, pleasant but not chatty. To Rebecca’s surprise, Sybil touched her arm to stop her before she left.

“Zane’s gift for you is hanging in the closet. I’m sure he’d be pleased if you put it on for him. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you, but this is a first for him. Although I’ve shopped for him and Mr. Hayworth, you’re the first female he’s called me in to help. I’m sure he doesn’t mean his present to come with strings attached.”

“You like him,” Rebecca said.

Sybil blushed even as she lifted her chin slightly. “Mr. Alexander is a gentleman. You don’t see that often these days.”

Rebecca supposed you didn’t—especially not in a man of so much privilege.

With Sybil’s testimonial to goose her on, she opened the room’s closet. A fragile dress hung inside, mid-thigh length and lovely enough to steal her breath. The fabric was a silver silk so shiny it shimmered like water. The matching sandals were tall enough to kill her if she weren’t careful.

She saw at once it wouldn’t be possible to wear underwear with it.

Oh boy
, she sighed privately. She wanted to put that dress on; wanted to show Zane how she looked in it as much as she wanted to see herself.

He’s earned this
, she thought,
sitting patiently in the living room all this time
. Maybe he was hoping she’d put out in return or maybe, as Sybil Spaulding claimed, he wanted her to have it without strings.

Unable to resist and feeling disconcertingly as if she were sixteen again, Rebecca stripped naked and dropped the dress over her.

It was beautiful. She was beautiful. For the first time in a decade, Rebecca acknowledged that. Her face held a hint of the girl she’d been, but her body was a woman’s. She looked seductive in the thin clinging silk: firm where she ought to be, soft where a man would like. She was better than naked wearing it. She was enchanting.

Squeezing her feet into the teetering sandal heels brought her back to reality, but she was determined not to do this half-assed. She’d always taught the twins the best thank yous were wholehearted.

As a precaution, she gripped the handrail when she went down the stairs. Zane was in the living room, working on his laptop. He looked up at the clack of her sandals. His reaction was priceless. He rose to his feet, hand on heart, as if she were a bolt of lightning that had struck him.

“Wow,” he said and swallowed.

“I have to keep this,” she confessed, laughing. “It looks too nice on me.”

“It looks
amazing
.” He took her hands as she reached the bottom, holding them out from her sides.

“Thank you,” she said. “You did a thoughtful thing.”

“You didn’t mind too much?”

“No. It reminded me I used to look forward to buying clothes. My mother loved taking me each fall before she got sick. She could pinch a penny, but she was into it. She’d pour over
Seventeen
before we went. She called it our girls day out.”

He dragged his eyes up to hers, simply staring at her. He seemed to understand she’d revealed something personal. “I, um— Wow. I’m having trouble remembering what I meant to say. Our picnic boxes are in the fridge. I told the captain we could cast off soon. We’ll eat on the aft deck, if you like.”

“We have a captain?” She was startled by this idea.

“We do. I can operate the yacht but, generally speaking, drinking and boating isn’t a good idea. I wanted to share a glass of wine with you and watch the sunset.”

Her fingers were tangling with his, their thumbs stroking together with a suggestiveness that made her knees tremble. “What time is sunset?”

A smile spread across Zane’s sensual mouth. “Not for hours yet.”

“We could maybe work up an appetite before we go admire it.”

Rather than speak, he scooped her into his arms. He carried her up the narrow stairs without clutching the railing or tumbling them to their deaths—a testament to his athleticism that she was grateful for.

He didn’t miss that she’d taken a tighter grip on him.

“You’re safe now,” he teased as they reached the top landing.

“It’s simple neurotic reflex,” she assured him. “I knew you had me.”

“Not yet.” He carried her to a new bedroom at the top of the quiet hall. “I’m hoping to have that privilege soon.”

The master cabin was bigger than the one where she’d tried on clothes. Decorated in brown and gold, its bed was custom-carved and king size. Zane laid her gently on the gold coverlet. He didn’t follow her down, but started unbuttoning his silk shirt.

“Please.” Rebecca rolled onto her knees. “Let me help you with that.”

Zane stopped working on the buttons. “Thank you,” he said—almost seriously.

Rebecca grinned and took over the task for him. She loved being this close to him. Smelling him, feeling his heart beat hard and strong under her fingers. The center of his chest appeared, its furring of golden hair narrowing to a line that dove into his trousers. His erection reshaped the front admirably.

“I remember this belt,” she said, releasing its buckle and pulling. “But I don’t think you’ll need it tonight.”

“Want your hands free?” he suggested.

Rebecca opened his waist catch and pulled his shirttails free. He helped her get the garment off his powerful arms, at which point she truly had to caress him.

As she did, a low sound of pleasure broke in his throat.

“You’re a fine looking man,” she said, palms and fingers exploring his rib cage. “Only a foolish woman wouldn’t want her hands on you.”

Zane was breathing harder, his big chest going up and down. He didn’t interfere with her petting by trying to touch her. “Have I mentioned how much I like you, Rebecca?”

“Only the once.” Amused, she bent to brush her lips across his peaked left nipple. “You could say it again any time you want.”

He caught her face in his hands, straightening her, looking into her eyes. His expression hovered between a smile and something more intense, something that might have been wonder. “I like you,” he repeated. “You’re smart and funny and so damn sexy my cock is crying.”

He kissed her before she could answer, deep and hard, his long-fingered hands holding her in place. The slide and draw of his tongue, so like the motions of lovemaking, caused her body to react.

“Oh,” she gasped, breaking free. “I need to take off this dress before I get it wet.”

Zane’s handsome face darkened, muscles in his cheeks tightening with lust. “Rebecca,” he growled.

“It’s silk,” she said, though she didn’t think he was arguing. “I don’t want to ruin it.”

He released her so she could pull it off, hands curling at his sides as he watched. She crawled off the massive bed, draped the pretty silver dress on a chair, and then turned to him.

“There,” she said, completely naked and only a little shy. “Now I’m ready for anything.”

He laughed then. “You’re a character.”

She hopped back onto the bed, one more concern rising while it still could. “How far away is your captain?”

Zane’s eyebrows arched. “I hope you don’t think we need his help.”

“Oh no.” Heat touched her cheeks in embarrassment. “I just wondered if it was safe for me to be noisy.”

Zane’s slow smile of answer was anything but safe. “The cabins are soundproofed. You can say—or scream—whatever you like to me.”

She leaned back, not quite brazen enough to stroke herself. “Well? Hurry up and make me.”

As if it were a race, he shucked his trousers and briefs, giving her a too-short flash of his tall nude body before clambering onto the bed over her.

“Wait!” she cried, pushing him to his back. “Let me look at you.”

Clearly happy, he grinned up at her from where he’d tumbled. “‘Hurry up.’ ‘Wait.’ Make up your mind, Rebecca.”

He wasn’t too shy to touch himself. He took his hard-on in hand, pointing its flushed tip at her. The other hand he wrapped warmly around her breast.

“Oh,” she said, liking the way his thumb circled her nipple.

Naturally, when he pulled his fist slowly up his shaft, his erection was all she could stare at. The length of it was solid, his own personal monument. Thinking of things she could do to it, her tongue curled over her upper lip.

“You see how he likes you?” Zane purred. “How he beads up and cries when I cup your breasts.”

Rebecca put her hand lightly over his, fingertips caressing the dips between his knuckles. “I like him too. I want him inside of me.”

Zane stretched up until he could kiss her. He pulled his cock again, tugging slowly enough that her hand rode his to the crest. She guessed being on the bottom wasn’t his thing. He rolled until she was beneath him, dwarfed by the size of his big body. He didn’t lie on her yet. With a longing moan, he dipped his head to suck her nipple.

“These are gorgeous,” he murmured, dragging his head across to the other breast. He must have shaved, because his cheeks were smooth. “So round, so perfect, I could suck on them all night.”

Her hands fluttered to his hair, fingers sinking into thick waves. Though she didn’t think of her breasts as perfect, the way he nuzzled at them and groaned almost convinced her. He pulled at her, flicking the stiffened tips with his tongue. That got to her a little too well. She was aching terribly.

“Zane,” she said, rubbing the inside of her thigh against his waist.

He lifted his head, blue eyes lasering at her. “You don’t want to wait anymore?”

She shook her head, and he smiled. He reached across her, pulling open the bedside drawer, strafing her pleasantly with his chest hair in the process. His hand returned with a condom. He sat back on his bare heels.

“You put it on,” she said shyly. “I like watching you touch yourself.”

He must have believed tradeoffs were fair play, because he took one of her hands and placed it between her lolling thighs. “You don’t have to put on a show,” he said, urging her fingers into a curve around her labia. “Just hold yourself while I put this on. Just feel what watching me does to you.”

He opened the condom wrapper but didn’t roll it on. “Cup your breast with the other hand. Don’t cover the nipple. I want to look at that.”

Rebecca did as he asked, since it was simple enough. Watching her watch him, he pushed the pad of his thumb across his penis slit, employing more force than she’d have thought comfortable. Moisture welled from the opening. Rebecca shivered as he spread the fluid across and around his tip. His skin grew redder, his shaft standing more upright. He rolled the condom over himself, smoothing the latex until it clung to him. His veins bulged starkly under it.