A Billionaire's Redemption

chapter 10

Deal struck, sex forthcoming. All of a sudden, Willa was more scared than the first time she’d done the deed with a sweaty frat boy in college whose face she could barely remember and name she couldn’t recall. But this was Gabe Dawson. The object of her lustful desires for most of her sexually aware life.

Thankfully, it wasn’t the kind of scarred-and-damaged scared she’d feared would wreck the rest of her sex life. It was the butterflies-of-anticipation, so-nervous-she-could-barf, please-God-let-her-not-embarrass-herself kind of scared.

How are we going to do this?” she asked nervously. “Do you want me to take off my dress?”

Gabe smiled. “No, Willa. Breathe. I’m not going to fall on you like some ravenous beast. We’ve got all night. And frankly, if the vibe’s not right tonight, we can get around to it some other time. Relax, already.”

Relax? I’m not sure I know what that is.”

His smile widened. “Hungry? Thirsty?”

Umm, no.” What was he doing? He led her over to the couch and eased her down onto it. He took off his tuxedo jacket, tossed it over the back of a chair and sprawled casually beside her. He kicked off his shoes and propped his feet up on the stone hearth. His right arm stretched out across the back of the sofa toward her, and with his left hand, he nursed his whiskey.

Perplexed, she propped her bare feet up beside his.

Nice toes,” he commented.

She wiggled the digits in question, enjoying the little flowers painted on her freshly manicured toes. They even had a tiny crystal glued in the center of each flower. They were cute. “Foot fetish?” she asked conversationally.

He laughed quietly. “Not especially. But I confess to enjoying every part of a woman. Fascinating creatures, you are.”

The fire hissed quietly, and the dance of flames between the logs soothed her.

So how did your first day as a senator go?” he asked.

Not too bad, considering. No one has tried to kill me yet, and I was only partially flayed alive at that party.”

I’m sorry about that. I shouldn’t have left you alone. I knew they’d jump you, but I didn’t think they’d go for the jugular so fast. Vicious bunch of hyenas.”

Can I quote you on that?”

Absolutely. What’s on your agenda for tomorrow?”

She studied him quizzically. “Why do you ask?”

Far be it for me to tell you what to do...” he trailed off.

Go ahead.”

You might want to take a look at the candidates to fill your father’s slot in the upcoming election.”

Do you have a favorite?”

He shrugged evasively.

She turned to face him. “Who do you like?”

Your father’s opponent. I’ve donated a fair bit of money to his campaign.”

She laughed, genuinely amused. “I should’ve known.”

You’re not mad at me?”

It was her turn to shrug. “It’s just politics. For all I know, I may endorse the guy, too.”

Gabe stared, shocked. “You’d turn on your father’s political party?”

If I don’t like their platform, I will.”

And I thought I was a rebel. Your father created a monster when he gave you his job.”

I’ve spent my whole life living in his shadow. I’m sick and tired of it. I’m stepping out into the light.”

He reached up to smooth a strand of hair back from her cheek. “Just be careful, okay? Life in the spotlight can get rough.”

What do you mean?”

Not only does everyone see the good things you do, but your mistakes are out there for the whole world to see. It takes a tough hide to deal with the negative stuff that comes with fame.”

You mean like crazy stalkers breaking into your home?” she asked soberly.

Among other things. The press delights in crucifying public figures.”

I believe I got that memo already,” she replied drily.

He sighed, his fingers trailing through the ends of her hair. “I suppose you’re more prepared than most for the storm that’s headed your way. You’ve watched your father live in it for years.” He laid his palm at the base of her neck as if contemplating the pulse fluttering there beneath his touch. He added reflectively, “Although I suppose you’ve been caught in the edges of that storm long enough to know what you’re getting into, don’t you? You’re so much stronger than you look.”

She tilted her head. “Do I come across as weak? A victim?”

He frowned, his hand going still on her skin. “Why do you ask that?”

I read online that women who are raped often give off signals that they’re weak and would make easy victims.”

Christ, Will. The bastard wouldn’t even let you talk to a live counselor?” Gabe’s voice was abruptly harsh. Furious. She didn’t need to ask which bastard he was referring to. That would be John Merris.

It’s okay. I read up on it. I understand how I feel and why I feel that way. And I know what I have to do to put it behind me. I’ll be okay, no problem.”

Gabe’s jaw rippled, and there was abruptly a faint tremor in the hand on her neck. “It’s not that easy, Willa. This is going to take time. I swear, I’d kill him myself if he was still alive.”

She put a soothing hand on his cheek, forcing him to open his tightly shut eyes and look at her. “Gabe. I appreciate your protective urges. But I’m a grown-up. I can take care of myself.”

Like when that guy broke in to your mom’s house? Or when the police wouldn’t come to your place last night?” he snapped.

Her hand fell into her lap. Was he right? Was she doomed to be taken advantage of and picked on for the rest of her life because she was too wimpy and afraid to stand up for herself? Would she always have to depend on other people to charge in to her rescue when she got in over her head?

Big hands came up to either side of her face. Tilted her unwilling gaze up to meet the color of the deepest, most mysterious forest. I’m sorry. I just worry about you. I want everything in your life to be safe and wonderful and perfect.”

A frown knit her brows. “But why? I’m nothing to you.”

He leaned forward slowly, his gaze never leaving hers. His voice was a bare whisper of sound across her skin. “Because I’ve wanted to make love to you since you were a teenager.”

She inhaled in sharp surprise, but the gasp was cut off by his lips touching hers. His mouth was warm and resilient, featherlight against hers, a mere brush of sensation.

Really?” she whispered.

I thought I was a pervert for lusting after you, barely legal.” His lips brushed across hers again. “You were like a newborn colt, all long legs and the promise of elegance to come. The beauty you have now was all there, but just starting to unfold. It was mesmerizing.”

But you always called me those stupid kid names.”

He laughed against her lips, a warm breath of whiskey into her mouth that tasted so good she went weak at the knees. “I did that to remind myself that you were way too young for me.”

I wanted you, too,” she confessed softly.

I know. That’s why I had to work so hard to stay away from you. I was the adult. It was my responsibility to do the right thing by you.”

She drew back slightly to stare up at him. He’d been looking out for her all those years ago? “I had no idea....”

Of course not. I didn’t want you to know.”

She tilted her head forward, resting her forehead against his chin. “If only I’d known.”

What would you have done? Defied your father? Run away from home to sleep with me? Ruined your reputation and your life for me? I couldn’t let you do that, Will. You were destined for bigger things than a kid from the wrong side of the tracks.”

Do you really think I’m such a snob?”

He kissed her forehead, her temple, her cheekbone. “I think you’re a miracle.”

How could she not melt a little at that? Her arms went around his neck and she scooted forward until she was practically sitting in his lap. His hand plunged into her hair, drawing her up against him as he really kissed her then.

His lips were firm and confident, possessing her mouth completely. He surged up over her, drawing

her the rest of the way into his lap. His hand slid under her hair and started a long, slow journey down her bare back. Shivers radiated outward from his palm as it counted her vertebrae one by one.

He reached the small of her back, but his hand didn’t stop. Lower, and lower still, his fingers moved, easing inside the seam of her dress. She moaned a little as his finger hooked in the edge of the skimpy thong the sales lady had sworn was the only lingerie she could wear under this gown. A single finger slipped into the upper cleft of her buttocks, and she all but came undone then and there.

Her entire body went languid and warm, flowing against him like sun-drenched honey. She kissed the side of his neck, groaning as his finger retreated and then advanced once more.

Are you okay?” he asked carefully.

Mmm-hmm,” she murmured against his collarbone.

Need more time?”

She blinked her eyes open, struggling to focus on his face through the haze of lust enveloping her. He looked...worried. Cautious. Crap. She didn’t want cautious.

Gabe, there is something I do need.”

His hands retreated from her body instantly. “Anything.”

I need you to forget for a while what’s happened to me in my recent past. If you treat me like I’m psychologically damaged and am going to break if you take the slightest misstep, how am I going to put that out of my mind?”

He started to open his mouth, but she talked quickly to get out what she had to say before she lost her courage. “I need you to make love to me like I’m a real woman. Like you want me. I need you not to hold back. Ravish me. Take everything you want from me. Show me what it means to be your woman.”

He looked positively thunderstruck. “Are you sure?” he choked out.

I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” She’d also never been more scared. This was it. She was going for everything she’d ever imagined getting from him. Reaching for her dream. Please, please, let him not freak out and run screaming from me.

By infinitesimally slow degrees, a smile formed on his lovely mouth and spread until it encompassed his entire face. His eyes glowed hotly, and his jaw rippled with sudden tension. “All right, then,” he breathed.

Her heart leaped into her throat. She had no idea what she’d just unleashed, and she was a little intimidated at the notion of finding out, but she’d already jumped off the cliff and was in free fall now. She might as well enjoy the flight.

Now, where were we?” she said softly. She leaned forward to kiss the taut muscles of his neck, and let her palms slide up the contours of his chest under the fine linen of his shirt. She raised up to nibble his earlobe and swirl her tongue around his ear while she got to work on the collar studs of his shirt.

Cuff links and studs fell with metallic clinks to the floor and she peeled his shirt away with reverence as she unveiled a gorgeous display of pecs and abs. The man was in stellar shape. He must work out for hours and hours each week to have built a physique like that.

Good grief, you’re amazing,” she mumbled against his collarbone as she leaned forward to taste all that delicious brawn.

You ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” he muttered.

She laughed against his skin, pushing him back onto the cushions so she could explore him more thoroughly. To his credit, he was in no rush and let her take her time learning the feel of his smooth, tanned skin and hard muscles. The man had no body fat. A network of veins lay just beneath his skin, testament to how fit he was. He might not have the bulk of a hardcore body builder, but he certainly had the definition of one.

Talk to me, Willa. What are you thinking and feeling right now?”

Surprised by the question, she chuckled ruefully. “I’m trying hard not to think about how unworthy I am of a man like you. You’re a freaking god.”

That brought him up off the cushions, reversing their positions quickly until she was pressed deep into the leather sofa and he loomed over her. “I hate to be the one to break the news, but you’re breathtaking. You may have hidden behind those old lady suits and drab makeup all these years, but the butterfly has broken free of her cocoon, baby.”

She smiled up at him skeptically. If lavishly complimenting the women he was making love to was part of his arsenal, far be it for her to disagree with him. She had told him not to hold back, after all. And he did make her feel kind of pretty.

He slid off the sofa, kneeling beside her as his hands and mouth wandered over smooth copper satin. His mouth closed on the peak of her breast through the skimpy fabric. She arched up into him, shocked at how violently aroused she was when he nipped at her flesh through the gown. It teetered right on the edge between pleasure and pain. For just a moment a bolt of fear pierced her desire, but then a single thought washed through her. This is Gabe. I’m safe. She relaxed once more and let the lust he provoked rage through her, unchecked.

She reached for him to return the favor, but his fingers snagged hers and he pulled her hands high up over her head, her arms outstretched. Lay the backs of your hands on the arm of the couch, baby. And don’t move them. Keep them there. Understand?”

She nodded, too aroused to trust her voice. And as his hands skimmed down her body to cup her privates, she began to understand. The slit in her skirt gave his hot hand convenient access to the juncture of her thighs. He simultaneously kissed her into oblivion and slipped his hand between her legs, which were too weak with desire to do anything but give way beneath his touch.

Slipping under the skimpy lace thong, his fingers played upon her raging desire like a concert piano, and then she fully understood his order not to move her hands. She writhed beneath his touch, trapped by

her promise, helpless to stop the need ripping through her and possessing no will to stop it, anyway.

He lifted her hips briefly to push her satin skirt up and out of the way, baring her entire lower body to him. Self-conscious, she squirmed, but he merely pushed her thighs apart and leaned forward to kiss her more intimately than anyone ever had before. His mouth was warm and wet and drove her completely out of her mind. Whatever embarrassment she’d felt was incinerated by the heat he generated deep within her desperately clenching body.

Let it go for me,” he muttered against her throbbing flesh. His tongue swirled across her, and she lurched in shock as her entire body clenched and then exploded with an electric tingle that shot from her core to every extremity on a violent spasm of pleasure. What in the world was that? Holy cow. Was that what all the fuss was about? How—in her admittedly not that frequent sexual encounters over the years—had she missed that?

Wow,” she gasped. “Do that again!”

Gabe laughed against her inner thigh. “My pleasure, ma’am.” His mouth closed on her again, and in mere seconds, her swollen flesh was tightening, the explosion building deep within her, growing, growing, until she cried out her release on a shudder of ecstasy that swept through her like chain lightning. She fell back against the leather, panting.

Still with me?” Gabe asked against her belly.

Coming back down to earth slowly,” she replied, more than a little dazed.

Mmm. That’s how I like my women.”

Boneless and stunned?”

Stunned?” he questioned.

I’ve never, umm, well, just wow,” she mumbled, abruptly embarrassed at how green she really was at this sex stuff.

Never done that or never reacted like that?” he asked, lifting up on one elbow beside her to look down at her.

Her face exploded into fiery heat that could only be the mother of all blushes. “Neither,” she confessed.

That was your first orgasm?” he exclaimed.

She squeezed her eyes shut in mortification. If possible, her face heated up a few more degrees Kelvin.

And then his mouth was on her forehead, kissing her face all over as his fingertips caressed her body lightly through the satin gown. Wanna do it again?” he murmured against the corner of her mouth.

Yes!” she blurted.

He laughed richly. “You women have all the luck. You get to have as many of those as you want until you fall unconscious of exhaustion.”

She couldn’t help but reply, “That sounds absolutely amazing.”

He laughed again. “Sex till complete exhaustion it is.”

He pushed up off the sofa and reached down for her hands, still plastered to the arm of his sofa. He lifted her to her feet, and she was shocked at how wobbly her legs were. His hands took bunches of satin at her hips and raised the gown up over her head, blatantly skimming his palms over her curves as he went.

He stepped back for a moment to stare at her standing there in just the thong. With a smile, he moved close once more to hook a finger under the lingerie and whisk it down her body, as well.

Better,” he murmured. “The firelight looks even sexier than that dress on your skin.”

And with those words, he banished any shame or self-consciousness she might have been feeling. He was still wearing his tuxedo trousers, with a satin stripe down their sides, emphasizing the length and power of his thighs. She reached for his waistband and he grinned down at her as she hooked both pants and briefs and stripped them off him.

He was more than ready for her and she, too, stepped back to take a long look at him. The firelight made him look like a savage, strong and wild and untamed. And yet, he was beautiful, too. Someone ought to carve a statue of him and put it in a museum.

You okay?” he murmured.

She gazed up into his eyes. “I’m fine. I keep telling you I feel perfectly safe with you.”

Maybe you shouldn’t,” he muttered half under his breath.

Why not?”

He looked over his shoulder into the fire before admitting, “Because of some of the things I want to do to you, Miss Merris.”

Show me?”

His gaze snapped back to hers, blazing more brightly than the fire. “Are you sure?”

You promised to make me go unconscious of exhaustion,” she reminded him.

Who knew a gaze so dark could burn so bright? It seared into her, promising exhaustion and more. He stepped forward, swept her into his arms, and burned the night down around her.

* * *

Willa woke to a weight across her middle. Even in sleep, Gabe had a possessive arm thrown across her, claiming her as his. She took in the morning light in his bedroom, which was as rustic and comfortable as the rest of the bungalow. Funny how this place was as much a part of Gabe as his high-tech condo in Dallas.

She took inventory of her body, which felt unfamiliar to her. She’d had no idea it was capable of the excesses of pleasure to which Gabe had brought it last night. This morning she felt limp. A little achy here and there, but overall, glorious. No wonder women raved about him in the bedroom. Not that she planned to add to the gossip about him any time soon.

What the other women had failed to mention was how sweet and funny and considerate he could also be. Yes, he’d demanded everything she had to give to him and had not allowed her to hide any part of herself from him. But he’d never made her feel anything other than special and beautiful and sexy. He’d fundamentally changed how she viewed herself. Her body. Her sensuality. For the first time in her life, she felt like a woman.

He stirred, his arm tightening around her, pulling her closer against his side. His mouth moved lazily in her hair. “Morning,” he mumbled.

She turned into him, looping her arms around his neck. “Good morning, indeed,” she murmured back.

His eyes opened and a smile gleamed in them. “You’re even more beautiful the morning after. Women the planet over would kill to look like you with no makeup on, and their hair tousled around them like that.”

She smiled up at him with a new confidence she’d never had before. Not until Gabe Dawson had loved her. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

His visage went surprisingly serious. “Actually, I’ve never said that to a woman before. And I meant it when I said it to you.”

Warmth unfolded low in her belly that had nothing to do with lust. “You really are a special man. Thank you so much for last night.”

A crack of laughter escaped him. “Honey, that’s my line. I’m the one who should be thanking you. Hell, I should be doing it on bended knee with dozens of roses in my arms.”

I prefer gardenias. Roses are too sweet and overwhelming for me.”

Duly noted.” He kissed the tip of her nose and rolled over onto his back, taking her with him by virtue of his arm around her shoulders. What shall we do today?” he asked reflectively.

Don’t you have an empire to run?”

He shrugged beneath her ear. “It’ll run itself for a few days.”

Since when did he blow off his company for a woman? The way she heard it, he took business calls in the middle of sex. Although, having experienced his total focus firsthand, she had to question the quality of the woman’s lovemaking who’d reported that salacious little tidbit about him. Nonetheless, he had a solid reputation as a workaholic.

She was definitely on board with the notion of spending the day in bed with him. She couldn’t get enough of him. And not just the sex. Just being skin-to-skin with him like this renewed her spirit. Healed her wounded soul. She felt like a woman again, cherished and whole. They lay there for several minutes of relaxed quiet, which was another thing she loved about him. He didn’t feel a compulsion to fill the silences with meaningless noise.

But then the ring of a telephone shattered the quiet. He reached out to pick up his cell phone and look at the incoming number. He swore quietly and put the phone to his ear. “Dawson, here.”

She snuggled against his side, relishing his heat and strength as his fingers twined lazily in her hair. All of a sudden, his entire body tensed.

What?” he burst out. “When?” A pause. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

She sat up in alarm beside him. “What’s wrong?”

The police got a video of my wife.”

His wife. He called Melinda his wife. Not his ex-wife. Willa rolled away from him and climbed out of his bed hastily, all but running for the living room and the scanty protection of her clothing. He’d called her his wife.