The Tycoon's Proposal (7 page)

He was making her feel completely possessed with his domination of her body. She was weak to his every command. He continued circling her chest with his tongue and she could do nothing but moan in pleasure, as her hands rubbed over his body. She could feel the slight sheen of sweat on his skin, which only turned her on more, to witness his loss of ever present control. She’d brought him to a state of arousal with nothing more than her responses to him.

She could feel his impressive erection pressing into her thigh and her body squirmed underneath him, needing to feel him press against her core. She needed him to join them together and she couldn’t wait much longer.

“I’ve wanted to do this since the first kiss we shared,” he confided to her in a ragged voice. His tone made her squirm even more. He was on the edge of control and she didn’t mind being the one to push him over the cliff.

He brought his lips back to hers and kissed her so tenderly, she was washed away with emotions. How could he be so cold and calculating one moment and kiss her as if she was the most precious thing in the universe the next. If she hadn’t already been past the point of no return that kiss would’ve done it.

He pressed the head of his erection against her slick opening and she could feel the heat burning in her aching core. “Please,” she begged him, when he still wouldn’t thrust inside her.

“I can’t wait any longer,” he growled at her. He wanted to make it good for her, he wanted to make sure she was ready for him but he’d wanted her for so long and hadn’t been with any other in months and there was no way he could drag out their lovemaking.

He lifted her leg, pushing it behind his back, opening her up fully for him. He could feel her heat against his head and it was making his entire body break out in a sweat, trying to maintain his control. He’d never before lost control over his body with any other woman.

She gasped aloud at the intense pleasure washing through her and jerked her hips, trying to get him to enter her.

He didn’t need any more prompting. With one quick thrust, he buried himself fully in her. She tensed as his entire girth filled her fully, causing a brief moment of pain.

Ryan groaned at the tightness of her body gripping him. He couldn’t believe how hard she was holding onto him. It sent him over the rest of the edge of sanity and after a small pause, he pulled out of her and thrust back in, faster with each move. He was out of control as he gripped her hips, raising her higher so he could sink even further inside.

After the initial shock of him filling her up, Nicole felt nothing but pleasure and soon lifted her hips up to meet his thrusts. She could feel her body tightening more and more with each thrust inside of her.

Suddenly a pleasure unlike anything she’d ever felt before was gripping her body. She cried out as the lightening shot through her core, up through her stomach and down each limb. She was shaking from head to toe, as the orgasm kept rippling through her in spasm after spasm.

Her clenching heat was all it took to send Ryan over the edge and within seconds he was buried deep inside her, shooting his pleasure deep within her core. He pumped into her for longer than he’d ever done before, then collapsed against her body, not having the energy to move a limb. She’d completely drained him.

He realized he must be crushing her and managed to turn them both on their sides with their bodies still connected. They slid along one another since they both had a sheen of sweat all over their bodies. They were both panting as if they’d run a marathon. Nicole couldn’t believe how amazing an experience that had been and was almost regretful she’d waited so long. She had a feeling it wouldn’t have been the same with any other man except Ryan. She’d never felt such intense emotions for any other man but him, which was most likely how she’d managed to remain a virgin well into her twenties.

Ryan finally pulled out of her body and she felt as if she lost a piece of herself. She grumbled at him, which caused a chuckle to escape his throat. She tensed at his laughter but she was so tired, she couldn’t manage to pull away or even open her eyes to glare at him.

She would allow herself to lie there for a few more moments before she got up and found another bed. She may have caved into the sex but she wouldn’t give him her heart or soul. If she slept with him nightly she was afraid he would get both of those things. She fell asleep with those frightening thoughts on her mind.

Ryan woke up and found himself alone in the bed and wasn’t happy about it. He’d left the bed of many clingy women but found he didn’t like being the one left. He threw the covers off him, getting ready to track Nicole down and bring her back. He got up and twisted around and then his heartbeat stopped.

He looked closer at the bed and saw the blood. Had he hurt her without knowing? The thought was incomprehensible. He thought about their lovemaking. He’d taken her a bit roughly and noticed her tensing but assumed it may have been a while for her, so he’d given her a few moments to adjust to him. He knew she was unbelievably tight but she couldn’t possibly have been a virgin. There was no way a woman could reach her age without losing her innocence but the evidence was staring him straight in the face.

His legs wouldn’t support him so he sunk down on the bed in shock. He’d thought she’d dumped him as a teenager to explore her options and date guys she thought were better than him and he’d been filled with rage. As he thought back he realized he hadn’t seen her with one other guy after him. He’d been so angry with her he’d never thought much about it.

There had to be another explanation for the blood because there was no way she’d been innocent. He threw it from his mind because the other option made him far too much of a jerk. He couldn’t face that. She’d been the one to dump him without ever looking back and she deserved to suffer a bit. It wasn’t like she wasn’t getting to live in the lap of luxury, so she was getting something out of the arrangement as well. He went to hunt her down, so she would be perfectly aware of where she belonged. She could leave his bed when he was ready for her to do so.

Chapter Four

Nicole was abruptly awakened by a very angry looking Ryan. She’d woken up after the second time he’d taken her in the middle of the night and had waited for him to fall asleep, before she’d snuck from his bed, to find another room. It hadn’t been hard, as the place seemed to have an endless supply of spare rooms.

“What do you think you’re doing in here?” he demanded of her, after staring down at her in silence for several minutes.

“I was trying to sleep,” she snapped back and turned over and lay back down, shutting her eyes. Ryan was furious with her. How dare she not only leave his bed but then have the gall to ignore him when he was trying to speak to her?

He ripped the blanket off her body, which caused her to sit straight up in bed, no longer pretending to be sleepy. She glared at him.

“You’ll be sleeping all night in my bed,” he told her.

“I’ll sleep where I want to,” she stated right back at him.

“You’re the most insufferable woman I’ve ever met in my life. Did you forget we have an agreement? Did you think I’d simply fork out a ton of my own money, set you up in my home and get nothing in return?” he demanded of her. She flinched at his words and the rage behind them.

“You got what you wanted last night,” she finally spat at him, still humiliated she’d so easily caved into him. A shiver ran down her spine as she thought about the way she’d responded to him.

“I’ll continue to get what I want and what I want is you in my bed every night, all night,” he told her as he leaned down on the bed in front of her. She glared back at him, with her arms crossed against her chest. “Do you understand?” he asked her, only inches from her face.

“Yes,” she spat, willing to say about anything to get him to back off and give her some breathing space. He smiled triumphantly and closed the space between them. She gasped in shock at the passion of the kiss and before she had time to react, he pulled away and walked from the room.

Nicole sat there trembling on the bed. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved he’d left, or not. She couldn’t deny she wanted him but that was natural, as she’d been head over heels in love with him at one of the darkest times in her life. She’d depended on him and needed him and she’d ended up having to let him go, for fear of him pitying her. There would’ve been nothing worse.

She slowly got up and headed back to his room to find her clothing. It was mercifully in the closet. She looked at her few pathetic items and hung her head down. She’d been living with only a few outfits for as long as she could remember. Her sister’s needs had been so much more important than her own. Patsy had never been aware of the sacrifices she’d made because there was no reason for her to know. Nicole was only doing what any sister should do in her circumstances.

Nicole made her way downstairs and headed straight for the food. She was once again starving and filled her plate. She ate a bit more than she had the day before but her stomach was still not used to having a full meal. There was a secure feeling in knowing she would have a warm meal in the morning. She would rather have that guarantee than a full dinner.

“We need to get going, so we can see Patsy before she’s taken into surgery,” Ryan told her. She stuffed the toast in her mouth and jumped up.

“I’m ready,” she told him through her mouthful of food and walked toward the front door. Ryan followed her and they had a silent drive to the hospital. Nicole had to tell herself she was doing the right thing and nothing else mattered except for her sister getting better. It was hard to remember anything when she was in the small space with Ryan, though.

His scent invaded her senses and caused her stomach to tighten with need. Even when she was mad at him, she still wanted to be near him and she still wanted to feel his touch. She tried to convince herself she was simply exhausted and when her sister was better she wouldn’t feel the pull toward him. She’d worried about everything for so long she needed some worry free days. Her body needed time to recharge itself.

Patsy was alert and nervous when they stepped into her room. It took a while for them to calm her down, especially considering Nicole was just as nervous as Patsy was. When they wheeled her into the surgery room Nicole couldn’t say a word. She was close to bursting into tears.

“The surgery’s going to take a couple of hours so why don’t we go out to lunch. You need to get your mind off of what’s going on,” Ryan suggested as they walked towards the waiting area.

“No, I need to be here in case the doctor comes out,” she said in almost a panic.

“We can stay, that’s fine,” he offered. They stepped through the doors and Nicole was dazed to find his family sitting in there. It was all of them, including his cousins, their spouses and both of his uncles. The women jumped up and immediately threw their arms around her, causing the tears she refused to let fall, come cascading down her cheeks. She was scared and very happy to let Jasmine and Trinity comfort her.

“What are you doing here?” she finally managed to ask them. After all, Patsy wasn’t related to them. She was more than grateful for their presence, though.

“We couldn’t let you go through this on your own,” Jasmine said, as if she was crazy to think anything differently. Nicole was more than willing to accept their love and support and continued to cry all her fears into their arms.

Ryan found himself a third wheel and didn’t like the feeling. He should be the one who she was turning to. It should have been his shoulder she was crying into. He wanted to kick himself when he had those thoughts because he normally hated clingy, emotional women and ran the second they behaved in that manner.

The men pulled him out of the room and walked him to the café to get some much needed coffee. None of them said anything, just drank some coffee and let the girls have some needed time together. Not one of them could possibly understand the female mind and felt safer at a distance, so they didn’t accidentally say something that may land them in hot water.

When they’d let enough time pass, they finally made their way back to the room with coffee and donuts to share. The women managed to get Nicole to drink the coffee but no amount of pleading would get her to eat. Ryan was relieved the tears had at least dried up. He didn’t know how to handle them.

The hours waiting for the doctor to come back in were the longest of Nicole’s life. She paced up and down the hallways, waiting for him to bring her any information. She needed to know her baby sister was going to be okay and she wouldn’t feel better until that moment. Ryan tried to get her to eat something but there was no way she could keep any food down. The breakfast she’d eaten was sitting uneasily in her stomach and she feared she was going to vomit all over the pristine floors.