The Billionaire's Secret Kink Box Set: Knox: Secret Alpha Billionaire Romance Bundle (Rosesson Brothers Book 1) (20 page)

Knox nodded as Mica came over next to him and pet one of the dogs. Dax's big truck reversed down the long driveway, soon disappearing from sight. Knox could smell lilac and vanilla and he wondered what the night had in store for him.

Hopefully they'd seen the last of Dick Bailey for a while. He remembered what Mica had last said to him before Bailey had shown up, and fiercely hoped she still meant it. Bailey needed to be dealt with, but not now. The police were doing everything that could be done. Until they'd had a chance to talk, to reexamine their options, now was the time to bed down and lick their wounds.

Knox gave a short whistle. "Tiny. Lulu. Come here!" The two dogs obeyed at once, both watching him for their next command. He turned to Mica and gave her a smile, expecting her to return it. Instead, she watched him warily.

Damn. He needed to figure out what was bothering her, and quickly, before she—

Mica cut his thoughts off cleanly. "Are you expecting me to stay here tonight? Because I don't think that's a good idea."

Knox felt a calm fall over him like he was preparing for battle. She was pissed and he was going to find out why.

"I think here is safer than your house," he said, his voice even. "Bailey won't be able to get past the guards again. None of us will fall for that trick twice. Plus the dogs are here." He motioned to Lulu and Tiny, and waited for the next breadcrumb she would throw him to lead him to the truth behind her irritation.

Her face puckered as she refused to look at the dogs. She held her gaze on his, her eyes flinty. "Isn't this highly ... irregular? I know you don't bring every person you provide protection for back to your house. What do you do with them? Put them in a hotel or some sort of a safe house?"

Knox watched her eyes as he spoke. "I've never brought anyone back to my house before. Just you, because you are special. I thought you wanted to be here."

Mica pressed her lips together and rolled her eyes at that, even as a fleeting look that could have been shame flitted across her face. Knox waited. Something was hurting her, and he wanted to know what. Noise from the contractors yelling to each other at the gate filtered to him but he ignored it. The dogs stared at him without moving.

She watched him, her eyes narrow. "I did want to be here."

She stopped for a beat and he kept his face passive, knowing there was more. A slight breeze kicked up, ruffling her hair, curling a strand around her ear. Knox found his eyes drawn to it. His fingers twitched, wanting to touch it as he imagined its silky smoothness.

Finally she spoke again, her face hardening into a determined mask. "I did want to be here when I thought I
was
special." She stepped straight in front of him and tilted her head back, staring him down. "Knox, when someone is special to you, you don't flirt with other women, at least not the way you did it. I heard you call that nurse beautiful and it bothered me. I know I don't have any reason to be bothered by it, and I know we aren't a couple and aren't ever going to be, but something almost happened between us earlier. I had hoped you could at least stick to one woman at a time."

Knox almost smiled in relief, but he restrained himself. He didn't want her to think he was making fun of her, or not taking her seriously. She had just come out and said it though, told him what was bothering her. That was so unlike any woman he'd ever known before. He loved her straightforwardness. Loved it so much he wanted to take her into his arms and kiss away her doubts.

He held up a hand. "Whoa. Which nurse are we talking about?"

Mica's face contracted further and Knox immediately realized his mistake. Now she'd peg him as having flirted with more than one nurse.

"The blonde who discharged you."

Knox thought back. He hadn't really noticed her. But he did remember her. He did not remember calling her beautiful, but that didn't matter. It was something he did.

He shook his head slowly. "Mica I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to flirt with her. It's a habit I guess, something I say often, because, well because ..."

He gave in to his urge to tame her unruly curl, lifting his hand to it, thrilled when she didn't pull away from him.

"Because women are so amazing. I mean look at you. Your curves and your contrasts. The way your hair frames your face so perfectly. The pinch of your waist and the spill of your breasts and hips. Women were created to be looked at, admired, adored."

"It's rude," she said, but her voice had softened. "Calling a woman beautiful who you don't know."

Knox did grin at that, dropping his hand. "I've never had a complaint before."

"That's because you're rich, young, and handsome. But it's still rude."

"Really, don't you like it when men call you beautiful?"

Mica's eyes narrowed again and she seemed about to answer, but then she snapped her mouth shut and looked out over his backyard. Her hand snuck absently to Lulu's head and scratched.

She wasn't going to answer that. Ok
.

"Mica, I'm sorry you thought I was flirting and I'm sorry I've been doing something rude for so long. I'll break myself of that habit."

Mica's eyes snapped back to him and he saw alarm there, then skepticism. "Don't do it for me," she said, her voice tight.

"I want to do it for you," he said, his voice dropping, his body straining to be close to her. "I want to do anything you ask of me." Knox moved a step closer, then reached up and ran a strand of her hair through his fingers. "I think all women are beautiful, but I've never met anyone as beautiful as you. I've been meaning to tell you that I love the blond hair. It looks amazing on you. And I love your curves now. They flatter you as much as the blonde hair. You were beautiful ten years ago. Now you're a goddess."

Mica pulled her hair out of his grasp and stepped away from him, glaring at him, heat in her eyes. "You're a smooth talker, Knox Rosesson. I've never doubted that. I know they don't name just anybody San Francisco's most eligible bachelor CEO. I've seen your date card. It's excessive."

Knox shook his head. Now they were getting to the meat of this. Now, as the fading sunlight raced from the sky, and the two dogs stood chaperone over them, he would address it, and either she would stay, or she would go. Either way, he would take care of her. But he hoped like hell she stayed.

There was no way past it but through it, and he had always been one to meet his challenges head on. He came right out and asked it bluntly, as was his way.

"Mica, how many women do you think I've slept with?"

Mica

The question hung in the air and Mica swallowed hard.
He had no shame!

She dropped her gaze to the pretty white dog she was petting as she tried to figure out why he would ask such a thing, and if she even wanted to try to answer him.

Knox caught her beneath the chin with a finger and brought her eyes up to his. "I have a better question actually. I get the feeling you think I'm some sort of man-slut, or playboy." His eyes bored into hers, holding her hostage. "How many woman do you think a man would need to sleep with in a lifetime before he leaves the realm of ordinary man and becomes someone disgusting to you? Someone to keep your distance from?"

Mica wet her lower lip, feeling trapped. How did he know exactly what she was thinking and feeling? She pulled away from him and took another step backwards, a slight breeze chilling her. She looked up the driveway at the men working there, well out of earshot, but comforting somehow. She drew strength from them and turned back to him.

"Twenty-five," she said, halving the number that had first popped into her head, then wishing she had made it even lower. Then wishing she hadn't said anything at all. She peeked at Knox through her lashes, wondering where he was going with this.

Knox nodded. "I guess I'm a man-whore then, because I have twenty-three non-disclosure agreements signed upstairs. Did you know I always made the women I brought back to the green room sign them? Is that something the gossip columnists share?" he asked, tilting his face down at Mica. His voice was harsh, and she wasn't sure if he was upset, or embarrassed. He nodded suddenly, then locked eyes with her. "I did. Mostly so no one put me in a book that I didn't want to be in. I also videotaped them. But not so anyone could watch it. Only so no one could accuse me of rape. So over the last ten years, I've had sex with twenty-three women in the green room. The tapes are all upstairs. I'll let you see anything you want, because like I said, I'm done with the green room. Even if you try to walk away from me—from us, that part of my life is over."

Mica kept her hand on the dog, dropping her eyes to the ground. Twenty-three women? That was only a bit over two a year. Which was actually low for a man single for so long, she thought. Did she believe him? And why was that part of his life over? Why now?

"I also had a girlfriend from age fifteen to age seventeen, then there was you, then there was Willa, so that makes twenty-six women I've slept with in my life. One more than your number."

Knox stared at her, his hands clenched into fists, his face begging her to say something, anything.

Mica stood her ground, feeling her resolve crumble. She knew who Willa was. His girlfriend of a few years ago. Hearing rumors that they had gotten engaged had almost killed her.

But Mica knew there was one more thing she had to uncover. "Fifteen to seventeen? When we met you were twenty. You didn't have any ... relationships at all for three years?"

Knox shook his head no but his eyes fled hers. They flitted over the security wall, then dropped to the dog. "No, I didn't," he said into the ground. Mica watched him, seeing a sudden vulnerability on his face that she'd never seen before. It made her want to throw her arms around him and kiss his fears away. She held herself back, hyper-aware of her jumbled emotions.

Her hand raised on its own, finding the fabric of his shirt. The drone of the insects in the grass around them faded until all she could hear was the thudding of her own heartbeat in her ears.

"Was there a reason?" she asked lightly, twisting his shirt in her hand, unconsciously pulling him towards her.

"There was," Knox said, his eyes meeting hers again, his voice husky. He leaned towards her, infinitesimally slow. "An awful reason, but I lived through it. I want to share it with you, but not right now."

Mica could understand that. She bit her lip lightly as Knox continued to move towards her, slow enough that she wanted to scream. She jerked on his shirt, knowing she was a goner. But for once, she didn't care. In that moment, she gave herself over to Knox Rosesson. At least for the night. The man she'd known before had been reliable, direct, and trustworthy. She had no reason to believe that part of him had changed.

Knox's right hand came up, twining into her hair. She could see the bandage on his arm flex with the movement and she wanted to ask him if it hurt, but when she looked at his face all she saw was desire and the question vanished out of her mind.

Knox's left hand spanned her waist, sneaking under her shirt to touch the bare skin there. Mica shivered, thinking she might scream if he didn't kiss her. His head dropped to hers, and his body pressed against her, trapping her right arm between them. Finally his lips met hers, and to Mica, it felt like the first time she'd ever kissed a man in her life. His heady, masculine scent threatened to overwhelm her. The rasp of his stubble on her cheeks and chin set her on fire with longing. Her lips parted on their own, letting him in, inviting him in, begging for more of him.

Their tongues met and fire shot down her spine at the connection. With her free hand, she grabbed for his jeans, unaware of anything but the feeling of his skin meeting hers.

Knox stopped her then, pulling away, but staring at her, his forehead touching hers. "Do you trust me?"

"I—I'm willing to try, Knox," she panted, her breath feeling heavy in her throat.

He stared at her, through her, then kissed her again, his eyes still open and devouring her. When their lips touched she let her eyes flutter closed. The sensation consumed her and she wanted to give her all to it.

Both of Knox's hands dropped to her ass and she gasped into his mouth. His touch burned her even through her clothes and she never wanted it to stop.

He curled his hands under her, down to her thighs and picked her up, effortlessly wrapping her legs around his waist. Mica made a small noise of surprise in the back of her throat, loving everything about his strength and his decisiveness. He'd been the same ten years before and she'd never forgotten it. Knox released her lips, bending his head to kiss her neck and look around her at the same time, carrying her to the porch, then up the three stairs and in the door. The dogs followed, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. Mica ran her fingers through Knox's short brown hair, loving the feeling of it. She grabbed an experimental handful and tugged, feeling feral, crazy.

Knox growled and nipped her neck, and then they were inside. He turned and locked the door with Mica still in his arms. "Lulu, Tiny, guard," Knox ordered, and the dogs padded away down the hallway, ears high, eyes alert.

Knox pressed Mica against the wall, finding her mouth again. "I've been dreaming about this for ten years," he growled into her mouth between kisses. Mica tugged his hair harder and pressed her middle against him.