We Could Be Amazing (5 page)

Just as she reached his room, something Ridge said came to mind. He mentioned that he’d taken time off work to spend time with Alex and
her
.  “Did you arrange for my brother to take Nana to Hawaii for Christmas?”

He froze where he stood, and she knew it was true. He had removed his shirt, and his bare chest did things to her she’d rather not feel. Looking away from the solid pecs proved impossible, especially with the smooth skin displaying a hint of a tan leftover from the summer this late in the year.

“I did.”

“Why did you do that, Ridge? Sometimes I just don’t get you. We agreed that—”

“
You
agreed, Kiona.” He crossed the room toward her, his long legs eating up the space in a couple strides. She stumbled backward, but he stopped her from escaping to the hallway. His strong, yet gentle touch undid her, and she lowered her gaze from his face. That meant nothing because the man’s six-pack made her think of how she used to lick it with delight. Ridge didn’t force her to look up at him. He probably knew she lusted over his body and thought it would help his cause. “I love you. I always have, and I always will. I signed those papers because you threatened me with everything you could. I didn’t agree because I wanted to.”

“But I thought…”

“Look if it’s my pride you want, you can have it.” He released her and spread his arms wide. “When you accused me of cheating with Anne Marie, what did I say?”

She frowned. “I hardly think that old argument matters now.”

“What did I say?” he insisted.

“Well you certainly didn’t deny it. That’s for sure. You spent more and more time away from us, sometimes overnight, always with the excuse that you were working. Yet, you had time for Anne Marie, and you took her with you to San Diego without telling me. When she answered your cell phone after midnight, I’d had enough. And what did you say to me? You said I needed to trust you. Well sorry, Mr. Foster, I was fresh out, and I resent you bringing all this up again!”

He reached for her, but she moved. “I think I should go home and take Alex with me now that I think about it. This is too much. You don’t have Christmas decorations or furniture. This place is nice, but I want him to have a great holiday, not be juggled around by his parents.”

“Kiona.”

She grumbled. “What?” The anger had helped her get through in the beginning months when their marriage crumbled. Right now, it didn’t work so well. Tears threatened, but she’d be damned if she’d start crying again over him. The drama at his parents’ house, though admittedly a mistake, still hurt. Anne Marie’s existence and her connection to his family made being around him unbearable.

“I said I give you my pride.”

“I don’t know what you mean by that, Ridge! What the hell do you want from me?”

He started toward her but stopped. “I said you needed to trust me, but that was unfair. I held to my guns and let my relationship with you die. I held out simply because I was used to getting my way in business. I was confident you would give in to me, and I didn’t consider how much it must have hurt to think I cheated. I
absolutely
deny it. I did not once touch Anne Marie. I had no desire to touch
any
woman other than you after I first saw you at that arts festival.”

Kiona listened in silence. She couldn’t say she believed him, but for the first time, she wanted to hear everything without shouting at him—and possibly beating him with something blunt.

“You’re right, I put work before you and Alex. I was driven to get the bigger, better deal, and when I saw that opportunity in San Diego, I chased it. I didn’t think twice about taking Anne Marie because she was my assistant. I know it will be hard for you to believe this, but not five minutes before that call, several men and one woman were in my suite—all there to get the terms of that deal down. We were trying to beat out a competitor. Anne Marie stayed a few extra minutes to get my instructions for the next day. I won’t lie, she’s made her interest clear, but that was early on when we first started working together. I told her I love my wife, and she left it at that. I foolishly thought her desire ended until she began to make a play after you left me. I let her go.”

This time, Kiona looked at him. “Are you serious?”

“I am. I haven’t even seen her since then, so my mother bringing her to the house pissed me off and surprised me, and I brought you two here because I refuse to allow my interfering mother to get in the way. No one—and I mean
no one
—is going to screw with me trying to win you back.”

The conviction in his tone and the fire lighting his sexy eyes made her believe that last statement. Still she teetered on accepting everything else. How many nights had she lain awake, going over everything, all the times Anne Marie had tried to make them seem closer than Ridge said they were? All the times on the phone, the instances when she visited his office and dealt with the woman. Anne Marie had been subtle, which made it seem all the more real. Give up on Ridge? Oh no, Anne Marie hadn’t given up after he rebuffed her. She had launched an intricate plan, and Kiona with her own insecurities about marrying a wealthy man had handed Ridge over.  She wasn’t so down on herself she didn’t see Ridge’s mistakes, but she hadn’t helped either. She hadn’t snatched Anne Marie bald and sent her back to her uppity family.
I should have done that at least.

“The final way I will give you all of my pride, Kiona, is this.” Ridge took her hand and pulled her over to the bed. Kiona resisted. How the hell was sleeping with her giving up his pride? Ridge made her sit, and he chose the spot beside her. When he took up his cell phone from the bedside table, she figured he had something else in mind. He quick-dialed a number and waited. The muffled voice of another person sounded over the line. “Greg, I know it’s late, but…yeah, everything is fine. About that offer you made me, is it still valid?”

Kiona seized Ridge’s wrist without thinking, and her eyes widened. “What are you doing?”

Her ex ignored her and named an exorbitant among of money. She couldn’t imagine what he was buying or selling or whatever, but the amount passing hands was more than she’d see in a few lifetimes.

“I need you to repeat the terms of this deal,” Ridge said.

Ridge held the phone to Kiona’s ear, and in a businesslike manner, as if the man did this kind of thing on a daily basis, which he probably did, he explained how Ridge had agreed to sell him the family business for such and such amount.

Kiona opened her mouth to speak, but Ridge laid a finger over her lips. That’s when she realized Greg thought he’d repeated it back to Ridge alone.

“Okay, send me the paperwork, and I’ll have my lawyer and accountants look it over. Thanks, Greg. I’ll be in touch. Sure. Merry Christmas to you too. Bye.”

Kiona shook her head in disbelief. “How could you do that?
Why
did you do that? Your family will kill you, and surely you have to get their permission or whatever.”

He seemed ready to kiss her, but he made do with holding her hand. She let him because she felt like she would fall out on the floor.

“First, I told you I’m not allowing anything to stop me getting you back. Two, I own controlling interest in my company. My dad signed over his shares years ago when the company was in trouble. He and Mom have a nest egg that will keep them in comfort for the rest of their lives. For his devil may care attitude, Raymond, owns a few successful business ventures outside the family. I will distribute the profit of the sale to them equally, and make no mistake, I have enough investments to ensure you and Alex are well taken care of.”

“But you love the software business.”

“There is nothing I love more than you, KeyKey, absolutely nothing. I’m walking away from this company because I’m serious. I’ll sell this house and move to Baltimore. I’ll date you until you’re comfortable trusting me. My life will be an open book to you.”

“Ridge, you know you’re nuts, right?”

“For you, yes,” he admitted.

She pursed her lips. “And you’re corny.”

“What do you say to giving me a chance to prove myself all over again?” He seemed to lose the battle to keep his hands off her, and he lifted her onto his lap. She figured why fight it and settled into his chest. “You can go with me to my office to collect the papers and to the lawyer and accountant’s offices. You’ll be at my side the entire time.”

She cringed. “Let’s not get carried away. I’ve been to your lawyer’s office. He thinks too much of himself.”

Ridge smiled. “I hired him because he’s brilliant.”

“I guess he’s that.”

Ridge stroked her belly. “What do you think?”

She sat in silence mulling his plan over. “I’m not entirely sure. I don’t want the guilt of being the reason you let your business go, but I’m also too selfish not to want more time with you, for me and for Alex. I think I have a lot of healing to do—we both do. Can we take this holiday slowly and see where we are at New Years?”

“Your wish is my command.”

Kiona closed her eyes. She never imagined Ridge loved her so much that he would go to these extremes. He had said the others were there the night Anne Marie answered his phone. She refused to believe him or hear any more. Funny enough the incident at his mother’s let her see all too clearly how manipulative Anne Marie could be.

Slowly, Kiona. We’ll take our time and see where it goes.
Under her ass, Ridge’s cock hardened and twitched.
Okay, slowly doesn’t include waiting on sex!

She held onto his thighs and slid back, pushing into his crotch. Ridge growled and caught her hips. “Baby, you can’t be so cruel, unless…”

She pushed into him again and moaned. Ridge matched the sounds she made with ones of his own and reached around in front of her to slide a hand toward her pussy. He cupped her sex, and she spread her legs. A thin nightie separated them, and before she left the bathroom, Kiona had added panties as a barrier—as if that would keep her libido in check. She couldn’t be more wrong.

Ridge thrust the nightie upward until she had to raise her arms to allow him to lift it over her head and toss it away. He ran his palms over her breasts and caressed the rigid peaks. Kiona caught her lip between her teeth. She arched into his touch and covered his hands with hers. She made him give her breasts a squeeze, gasping because it felt so good.

For some reason, she expected Ridge to ask if she was sure, but he raised no questions. His hands explored, his tongue sampled at her neck, and he curved his body along her back. She burned alive as his skin grazed hers. She yearned for more of his touch and more of him.

“Do you know how your body drives me insane, KeyKey?” His words rumbled at her throat as he nipped a path along its length. “Can you fathom the nights I dreamed of making love to you, hearing your sweet cries, feeling your curves writhing beneath me?”

“Yes, Ridge. I dreamed of you too. I wanted to be with you so bad.”

He growled and raised her to place her gently on the bed. He leaned above her taking her in with his eyes and following up with his fingertips. Kiona offered herself without a word. When her eyelids grew heavy, she forced them wide so she could continue to drink him in as well.

Ridge took his time lowering her panties down her legs. He put them to his nose and breathed deep. The satisfaction in his expression stirred flutters in her belly.

“Your scent,” he whispered, and then tossed the bit of material aside. He pushed her legs apart, and Kiona didn’t mind him checking her out down there. In the beginning, when she hadn’t had much experience and when she had been with one other white man, her confidence had lagged. Too many nights in the past Ridge drank her nectar and declared her delicious and beautiful. She believed him. She was the most beautiful woman in the world for and because of Ridge.

“Touch me, baby,” she pleaded with him.

“Tell me where.”

“Here.” She placed fingers between her legs, light so she wouldn’t give herself pleasure. She wanted it all from him. “I’m hot.”

He stuck a thumb into his mouth and made sure it was good and wet before he used it to stroke her clit. She came up off the bed, back arched. She rotated her hips to get the full affect. A shock of pleasure stimulated her system. She could come if he kept it up, but Ridge backed off. She came close to complaining, but he replaced his thumb with his lips and sucked the poor bud. Kiona called out his name.

For long, wonderful minutes, Ridge feasted on her clit. From countless sexual sessions with him, she knew she had no reason to worry. Ridge would keep going until she reached her peak. She rode his mouth, holding his head as he licked. Soon, her orgasm swept in like a wave, and she thrashed about on the bed, loving each time the sensations rolled over her inner core.

Kiona put her hand on Ridge’s shoulder and gave him a light push. “Let me take care of you, baby.”

He sat up and unbuttoned his pants, then thrust them over his hips. “No, we will eat each other. I’m going after that again. Besides, I didn’t get a chance to lick your sweet juices. Let me lie on my back, and you get over me. I’m going to make you scream.”

“If you say so,” she cooed, already getting excited again. He shucked his boxers and lay down on his back. Kiona flipped around so her ass faced Ridge and climbed atop him so her pussy was positioned over his face.

“Mm, just the way I like it.” He parted her folds and stuck a finger inside her. Kiona bucked on the digit, and Ridge made a chastising click with his tongue. “Easy, my pretty pussy. You want Daddy inside you, don’t you? The way you’re squeezing my finger, you can barely wait. Soon, but not until you come for me a few more times.”

Kiona grasped his cock in her hand. Just holding it set her pulse to beating a rapid tattoo. Her ex-husband’s cock grew thick and long, a good nine inches. She loved sucking him off and stroking him, almost as much as she enjoyed him inside of her. He was right. She needed him to fill her, but she could wait. They used to torture themselves, holding out as long as possible, playing various roles. Their love-making sessions lasted for hours. Ridge didn’t let her out of bed until he’d made her come multiple times.